From the First Moment
by Widkama
Summary: Finn has had a thing for Rory since the moment he laid eyes on her. He know's that Logan is pursuing her, but knows he's not serious. He decides that he will wait for his chance. Will Finn get the girl? PDLD
1. Intro

**AN: Okay so this is my first Gilmore Girls FanFic. I have fallen in love with Finn/Rory so I decided to write my own PDLD. I hope you enjoy. The first chapter is a bit short, but the future ones should be longer.**

 **Disclaimer: This story will go along with the timeline starting early season 5, but will have some changes; so I guess it'll kind of be an AU.  
I do not own any of these characters or anything relating to the Gilmore Girls. I just own my thoughts. **

**I hope you enjoy. Please read and review.**

God she was a beauty. He'd reckon he hadn't seen such a girl his whole life. Not only was she the most beautiful Sheila he'd ever seen, she was also the smartest. Most of the girls he hooked up with were deadheads. He never saw any future with these girls; they were just one-offs to satisfy his needs. Yeah, that may make him sound like an awful person, but that's just the way he was. Besides, these girls didn't want anything serious; they just wanted a good fuck from a good looking guy like himself.

This Sheila was not one of those girls. Judging by the stack of books she regularly had in her arms, she was at Yale purely for the education. She didn't view college another way to socialize, or a way busy herself until her perfect man came along. No, she viewed college as a learning experience, and she brought a whole new meaning to the word 'dedication'.

Finn was looking Rory Gilmore's way for a while now and had started to notice her more often on campus. He had first noticed her when she told off his best mate Logan for acting less than kind to that bartender gent. He had gotten a kick out of her ability to put Logan in his place.

After that, Logan had formally introduced himself. The rule among him and his mates was whoever makes first introductions has first and foremost 'dibs' on the girl. He had mentally berated himself for weeks for not getting to her first. Had he not been on a drunken binge that past weekend, he might have been quicker to the draw and introduced himself before Logan.

This did not fare well for Finn. He wanted to get to know Rory, not just get in her pants. He knew that Logan's intentions were not near as honorable. He knew his reputation would speak otherwise, but Finn had no intentions of having just a one-off with the lovely reporter girl. No, he wanted to get to know that mind of hers; her thoughts, her dreams, and her fears.

After he had found out that He shared a couple classes with the Sheila-which, he found impressive since she was a year behind him-he had started making more of an attempt to make it to class every day. He wasn't a bad student, but he was known to cut a few corners; that was one of the perks of his father's charitable donations. His attitude for attendance had changed once his desire to know Rory surfaced though, and his marks in school had improved significantly.

This Sheila was already having an effect on his life, and she was completely unaware if it.

He still drank, but not nearly as much as he used to; though, he had kept his drunken act up just to maintain appearances with his friends. He wanted to be aware of her; if she was around. He knew that he couldn't go after her, but he could hope that Logan struck out then allowing him to make his move. Yes, it was wrong of him to hope against his mate, but he knew his feelings for Rory were far more that Logan's horny ones.

He decided he would wait. He knew that Logan would either strike out or get bored. That is when he would make his move. That is when he could get to know this wonderful girl that is Rory Gilmore.


	2. Caught by Steph

**AN: Okay so I forgot to mention this in the first chapter; unlike most of the other PDLD stories I have read, this one is mainly going to be from Finn's side. There may be some from Stephanie's but not too many. This IS NOT going to go exactly along with the story-line. At some point it will branch off into an AU. I know it may seem like the story is getting a slow start; I'm not trying to go slow with things, but I want to build everything up.**

 **I hope you all enjoy. Please let me know what you think :)**

Finn had spent weeks quietly admiring Rory Gilmore. He continued his oblivious act to keep his friends in the dark; most of them still believed he was taking home a different girl every night. He thought he had been doing a good job at masking his feelings, but his ever observant best girl mate had already caught him.

Stephanie was too aware for her own good. Everyone else dismissed her quickly because of her ditsy attitude, but Finn knew that was all an act, just like his 'unaware drunken Aussie boy' was. She was at Yale for pre-law and passing all of her classes with flying colors. He sometimes didn't understand how she did it. They went to all the same parties and he regularly witnessed her downing a significant amount of alcohol; but somehow she was on time to all her classes and never missed an assignment deadline.

About a week before the LDB weekend Stephanie caught Finn staring at Rory in the courtyard. Logan had just struck out, once again, in his attempt to get her to go out with him. Finn couldn't help but smile at this; that was when she caught him.

"Phineas Morgan, pray tell who are you looking at?" Stephanie said theatrically.

He didn't answer right away; he wasn't sure he wanted anyone besides him knowing his true motive for the beautiful Miss Gilmore. He knew he could trust Stephanie; she had never slipped a secret even when intoxicated, but he kind of enjoyed having his thoughts to himself for once. He continued to look at Rory as he mulled his options in head.

It took Stephanie less than a minute to trace his line of sight to Logan and Rory across the courtyard. "Okay Finn, so either you have suddenly grown an attraction for guys and didn't tell me, or you are eyeing up Logan's dibs."

Finn turned and looked at her, "Oh Steph, you know the only guy for me is Colin," he smiled.

"So you _are_ checking out little miss reporter girl." Stephanie exclaimed a little too loud for Finn's comfort level.

He grabbed his friends hand and dragged her across the courtyard, "Do you want Logan to hear you, luv?" He asked when they were a good distance away.

Stephanie flipped her blonde hair over her shoulder, "so what if he hears me. He's going nowhere fast with her; why not let his best friend have a shot to strike out?"

"What makes you think I'm going to strike out" Finn asked with a mocked offended tone.

"If all you want is to get in her pants, then it's inevitable." Stephanie eyed him suspiciously, "Wait a second; you are seriously pining for this girl. Why Finny, are you telling me you want an actual relationship with this girl?"

Finn scoffed, "First of all I'm not telling you anything; you are assuming it all. Secondly, No, I wouldn't mind being in a relationship with Rory," he admitted reluctantly.

Stephanie yelped in joy jumping up and wrapping her arms around his neck, "I never thought I'd see the day when one of my boys would seriously want a girl for more than a hook up!"

Finn wrapped his arms around her, returning the hug. He smiled at her overly joyous reaction, "Geez luv, it's not that big of a deal."

She pulled back from the hug and pointed a stern finger at him, "Oh yes it is. For the last three years I have watched you jump from one girl to the next, never being with any of them for more than one night. It's like you are trying to battle Logan in who can be the bigger man-whore," she playfully teased. Then she got serious, "honestly though, I've never seen you let a girl get close to you."

He wrapped his arm around her waist and pulled her to him, "Except you, luv," he said leaning down and lightly kissing her on the corner of her mouth.

She raked her finger through his hair; grabbing a fistful she pulled his head away from hers, "Nice try Finny. I don't count." She pulled out of his grasp, "If this girl has got you thinking about any kind of a relationship then I think there has to be something magical about her."

He leaned against the brick wall behind him, "I don't know Steph; it's hard to explain. It's like she's invade my brain so suddenly. I hardly even know her. We've not even properly met," Finn rattled on.

"Well then meet her and get to know her," Stephanie interjected.

"Luv you know the rule; I Logan has claimed dibs."

Stephanie let out an annoyed breath, "You know I have always hated you guys calling 'dibs' on girls."

Finn rolled his eyes, "You know we don't do it as an insult. It's to cause fewer problems between us. We can't all go after the same Sheila." He reached up and tucked her hair behind her ear, "remember how poorly that went over with you?"

She blushed, "Yeah, well, you guys were stupid to fight the way you did. You should let the girl pick who she would like to go with," she said slapping his arm.

"Too right you are luv, too right. However, I do not believe our fine Mr. Huntzberger will be too happy if he feels I am moving in on his target."

Stephanie slapped his chest, "There you go again talking about her like she's not a person," she scolded. "Maybe instead of trying to gain her affections, you just try to gain her friendship. Logan cannot be angry for you being friends with her."

"I wouldn't put it past him, luv," he replied, but continued before she could react, "but, I do see your point." He raised his hands in a surrendering motion, "I guess there is no harm in being friends with her."

"Good. I'm glad you see it my way."

"I am too lucky to have a friend and beautiful and smart as you, luv"

She smiled, "Again, I'm glad you see it my way."


	3. LDB Weekend

**AN: I had actually hoped to get a chapter up sooner, but I had jumped ahead a bit. So I went back and filled in where I skipped. I like this chapter, because this will be Finn and Rory's first time to speak one on one.I really like it and y'all will get a little peek into Finn's head.  
I hope y'all enjoy. Let me know what you think. **

Finn had woken up incredibly hungover. He spent the past two days drinking copious amounts of alcohol at the LDB weekend event. He hadn't known that Rory was going to be there until Logan brought her to the car. He looked at Stephanie, and her look told him she knew nothing about this.

He had been volunteered to drive, so he didn't even get the opportunity to sit near her. They arrived at camp just after sunset. After parking, Finn decided he was in much need of a drink and ran off in the direction of the alcohol tent.

He had just taken his first swig of scotch when Stephanie finally caught up with him. "Finn I swear I had no idea he was bringing her." She gave him a sympathetic look, "All he asked me was if I was okay with someone observing us for the weekend."

"I should have known when he asked me. I heard her asking him questions about the LDB, but I just didn't piece it together." He took another swig of scotch, "Well, can't say we didn't know how smooth he was. He's giving her exactly what she wants, and before we know it he'll get what he wants."

Finn knew he was being a hypocrite; he had had many one-offs of his own, but this was different for him. He liked Rory. They had even had a few group conversations in their classes and at the library. Sure most of it was about schoolwork, but the way her eyes lit up when she got on certain subjects mesmerized him. Sure, her pure beauty is what drew him in first, but her amazing brain and gift for learning is what concreated his attraction.

His feelings now made him wonder if he ever hooked up with a girl one of his mates felt for. He hope he hadn't, because he'd never want one of his mates to feel what he has been feeling.

As the night progressed, the festivities commenced. Several LDBrigadiers we gathered in subgroups around the camp. Finn had been wondering from group to group enjoying the drink and food of the night.

Later on in the evening he found Rory sitting right inside of the forest bent over a notepad furiously scribbling her notes. He made his way to where she was sitting, "Hello there kitten; you're looking mighty lovely tonight."

She jumped, startled by his approach, "Oh, hey Finn; thanks." She offered him a smile as he walked around to stand in front of her.

"And how are we enjoying our first LDB event?"

She let out a breath, "It so much to take in; you all really know how to throw a party. I don't know how I'm ever going to thank Logan for getting me in."

"Oh yes, dear, thoughtful Logan; you should be careful of that one luv, he's a wild one. Many a girl has tried to tame that wild beast; all of them end up with a broken heart."

"I thought you and Logan were friends?" She questioned, a look of confusion masked her face.

Finn took a seat on next to Rory, "Ah, well you see we are, best mates, and as his best mate I know him best. He has a bad habit of using whatever means possible to get with a girl, and then once he's done with her he discards her and moves on." He took a sip of his drink.

She turned to face him, crossing her legs in front of her, "Correct me if I'm wrong Finn, but isn't that what you do? I've heard about the number of girls you've been with."

He turned himself to face her and mimicked her sitting position. "Why yes, this would be a fact. I have slept with my fair share of women; but I have never led them on. They know from the start that the only interest I have is a one-off. Most of them only have that interest in me too."

"One-off?"

"A one night stand," he clarified.

Realization hit her, "Oh. I get it; but why?"

"Why what, luv?"

"Why do you only have on night stands? I mean don't you ever want an actual relationship?"

"Of course I want a relationship, eventually. I only have one-offs right now because I have yet to get the girl of my dreams; the girl that I will epically fall in love with. There is only one girl out there that could provide me an epic love story. When I get her I will happily give up my playboy ways and settle," he stopped himself before he said too much.

She eyed him with a surprised look, "You know you're not what I expected."

He chucked, "What do you mean? Did you expect me to travel around in a kangaroo? Most people do. Kind of like everyone thinking Texans ride horses everywhere"

Rory giggled; Finn found this to be a very delightful sound. "No, I mean, every time I see you on campus you are drunk and can barely form a sentence. Most of the time you don't even remember my name; and now here you are speaking so profoundly about love."

Finn smiled, "Oh trust me Miss Lorelai Gilmore, your name is not one easily forgotten," a small gasp escaped Rory's lips at hearing first name used; this brought a sense satisfaction to him,. "The thing is, luv, you haven't gotten to know me yet. You will find there is more to me than meets the eye. I'm not as stupid, forgetful, or drunk as I let on," he gave her a little wink.

"So I see," she replied softly.

He leaned forward and whispered into her ear, "Though I do hope you'll keep that our little secret. I do like to maintain my reputation." As he pulled back he breathed in her sent, letting it intoxicate him more than he already was.

She looked confused, "Why would you want people to think such awful things about you?"

He thought on this for a moment. He had never explained his reasons for acting the way he did. "I honestly used to just be the drunken Aussie; back in high school. There was no other side to me; drink and girls was all I needed. As I got older I went through some things that taught me that being that way was stupid and could hurt people or myself. So I changed my ways and learned to control myself starting my freshman year of Yale; but it unfortunately did not go compute with my mates. They thought I was just being silly old Finn; pulling a prank on them. Every time I tried to open up to the fellas they would pass it off as an elaborate joke and mock what I'd was saying. So I decided it was best to continue my façade for everyone and only reveal the true me to those who mean something special to me. The only person who truly knows me in my friend circle is Steph. Other than her and family you are the first person to know any of this."

She didn't say anything right away. He had fear he scared her with his blatant admission of her being important to him. After another moment she smile, "I'll be sure to keep it to myself," she whispered back.

He leaned forward again and gave her a soft kiss on her cheek, "Thanks luv." With that he stood up and used his free hand dusted off the back of his pants. "Well I'm off to get blindingly pissed," he stated with a smile, "you be a good girl kitten, and I'll see you later."

As he headed back to the campsite he took one more glance back at his dream girl and smiled when he caught her staring at him. He gave her another little wink and headed in the direction of the alcohol tent.

He had spent the entirety of the following day doing whatever he needed to keep his mind off of the fact that Logan was getting to be near her and openly show her attention; Logan couldn't seem to keep his hands off of her. The result of this was that he had drunk more than he had in a long while.

He had unfortunately missed the mat while playing as a target and ended up in the infirmary tent missing Rory's jump. He and Stephanie had hitched an early ride home with Robert so that he could get a proper night's sleep.

Too bad his dreams were filled with restless thoughts of Rory choosing Logan over him.


	4. Mother Morgan

Finn had woken up with a blinding headache. He had really overdone it this weekend. He looked at his alarm clock and saw that it read 4:24pm. He had missed his first class of the day. He would have to beg Stephanie for a copy of her notes.

Just as he was getting his bearings his phone started to ring loudly, "Ah bloody hell," he grumbled as he searched his bed sheets for the ear-assaulting device. When he finally found it, he saw it was his mother calling. He cleared his throat, so he didn't sound as hungover as he really was, "Hello mother."

"Why, if it isn't my favorite son in the whole world," his mom's high pitched voice screeched through the phone, "why is it that I'm always the one that must call you? Why do you not ever call me? I would like to hear from you time to time. Do you not care about me enough to inform me that you are still alive and well? Or am I in fact talking to the ghost of your former self?"

Finn let out an exaggerated sigh. His mom liked to lay it on thick; but that was one of the things that made their relationship fun, "Well dear mother, I've just been up to my usual; drugs, booze, and orgies. You know the usual cesspool of indecencies."

"Oh Finn you know just what to say to make your dear mother proud," she replied with a smile. Amelia Margaret Morgan was not your typical society type. She had a wicked sense of humor and didn't care who she offended. She had grown up in Hartford, her maiden name Jackson; but she had resisted the snob attitude that she was expected to adopt. She still knew how to behave like a lady and enjoyed attending the high society events to mingle with the other families, but she just didn't model her life the way they thought she should.

"So mother, to what do I owe this early wake-up call?" Finn asked mid-stretch. He finally got up and headed to his bathroom. Thanks to his mother's insistence, he and his mates had gotten an apartment off campus that was still within walking distance of the school. It was a four bedroom two bathroom apartment. He and Logan shared a connecting bathroom while Robert and Colin shared the other.

His mother laughed "Phineas Robert Morgan III, it is 4:30 in the afternoon you should have been up long ago; you had classes did you not?" She playfully scolded.

Finn had placed his mother on speaker phone in order to start his wake-up routine. "Yes mother, I'm aware that I had classes today, however I had a bit of a rough night and needed the rest." He said through a mouth full of toothpaste. When he spit it out he continued, "Besides, I only missed one class. I scheduled all my classes in the afternoons because I love sleeping in."

"Yeah yeah yeah darling, we all know you're nocturnal." His mom had tried her best to switch his sleeping habit over when he was a child, but had been wildly unsuccessful and it only grew worse when he got to college. "Well I'm not calling to reprimand you for your nightly adventures," she continued, "I'm calling to let you know that you have received an invitation to a party of sorts."

"Of sorts?" Finn echoed.

"Yes. It seems Richard and Emily Gilmore decided to throw their granddaughter a dinner party. I have heard through the grapevine that they have only invited Yale students and their families." She said in a singsong tone, "Seems the young Gilmore girl is in her sophomore year at Yale and they want her to meet as many legacy students as possible."

"Interesting," Finn replied, "And the name of their granddaughter is?"

"If I'm not mistaken, she carries the same name as her mother, Lorelai."

Finn's interest peeked. He had known that Rory's birth name was in fact that of her mother's. While he didn't know exactly what her mother's name was, he doubted there was another Gilmore going to Yale that carried the same name as her mother.

"Well mother, as you know I would not want to be one to deny this young woman a chance to meet a dashing Morgan, such as myself" Finn playfully mocked.

His mother laugh, "Alright Mr. Dashing, I'll send in our RSVPs. It will be this Friday. It says semi-formal on the invite so dress appropriately. Your father and I have also been invited, though I think your father may not make it. He has business meetings all week."

"However will we survive dear mother?" Finn joked. "I highly doubt that father could be bothered to show up for such an event. He'd be too worried about me getting pissed and embarrassing him."

"Too right you probably are Finn." She knew as well as he did that his father didn't have the highest expectation for him, "Well, my dashing son, I must let you go now. I have a reason to buy myself a new dress." He could practically hear her smile through the phone.

"Have fun mother. I love you," Finn said and then hung up on the call. He made his way back to his bed and let his thoughts run wild about the lovely Rory.


	5. The Male Yale Party

**AN: First I would like to thank Droolia for giving me the idea for the name of the chapter.  
This chapter is quite a bit longer than my other ones. There was no way to shorten it without cutting the story weirdly. I would also like to note that there is indeed a lot of original dialog from the episode *I DO NOT OWE THIS MATERIAL*. I didn't leave it exactly like the episode, because how boring would that be?  
I hope y'all enjoy. Please let me know how you like it. **

"Father you know you didn't have to come, the party is so Rory can meet her fellow students." Finn was getting sick of his father's sour attitude towards the whole night.

It had started earlier that night when he was insulting Rory's grandparents, "Bloody rude they are. I tell you, they have no proper training. Why the hell would they only give a week's notice?" He was actually mad because his afternoon meeting fell through leaving his evening wide open; meaning he was being forced by Finn's mother to attend the Gilmore dinner party.

"I don't know PJ; I assume it was a spur of the moment kind of thing." His mom was the only person, other than his Nana, to be able to call his father PJ and not get sucker punched. His Father was Phineas Robert Morgan Jr, but his mother had started calling him PJ back when they went to Yale together. "Now stop being rude. You know you would have been a lot more put off if they didn't invite us. You're just being an ass because of work. I expect you to be over this by the time we get there. Now stand still so I can fix your tie."  
Finn's mother was also the only one who could calm his father down. She had some secret way with just her words that would leave his father dead silent. She didn't even have to raise her voice; she just had to look at him a certain way and put together the sentence a specific way and he was hers to command. Finn knew he wanted a wife just like his mom one day; a woman with a commanding presence; one who wouldn't be afraid to tell him how it was.

His father had calmed down a bit, but he still looked like he had a sick up his ass.

"Now Finn, you know I wish for your father to be here. I expect you two to be civil to each other tonight." His mom's voice was stern but soft.

They had finally made it to the Gilmore house; the place was impressive.

They made their way to the door and were greeted before they even knocked.

The maid took their coats and led them into the main scene. Finn immediately saw at least ten guys from Yale that he knew and another ten or fifteen that he recognized. Upon further examination of the room Finn realized that this wasn't a normal dinner party.

As if reading his mind his mother leaned in and whispered in his ear, "Looks like Emily and Richard are auctioning off their granddaughter to the highest bidder. I swear I'm never seen such a sausage-fest."

"Mother!" Finn laughed. He looked around again, "God what, did they think she wouldn't notice that there's a few more blokes than Sheilas here?"

They started mingling, his father had found a group of his golfing buddies and his mood had improved substantially. His mother had kept him by her side, bragging about how handsome he was to her friends.

After a short while Emily Gilmore had gotten everyone's attention as she came down the stairs, Rory alongside of her.

Rory looked amazing. She had on a dark green and black dress with a sweetheart cut and thin straps. Her hair was pulled into a bun onto of her head exposing the whole of her neck. Finn couldn't breathe for a moment. She looked good in the LDB dress Logan got her, but he had been a bit too drunk to get the whole effect. Tonight she was the center of attention; well at least his.

His mother leaded into him again, "Wow Finn isn't she beautiful?"

All he could do was nod his head. He wanted nothing more than to go over to her and express his affections, but he had seen Logan on the other side of the room a moment ago. God he hated this whole thing. He wished he didn't care about Logan's feelings. In truth he didn't too much; he just knew that Logan could be quite vindictive and would stop at nothing to make Finn's life hell if he tried to get Rory while he was after her.

He didn't realize that his mother was still looking at him, "Dear son of mine, you have not taken your eyes off that girl since she entered the room." The suspicious tone in his mother's voice told him she had connected the dots, "Am I detecting an infatuation?"

He didn't say anything; he just smiled.

* * *

"Finn!" He heard Logan call him out to the patio.

The party had been going on for a good while and Finn had decided to mill about the crowd. His mother had gone off to be with his father to give him some person space. She knew he took on a different persona when he was around his friends. She never faulted him for it; she understood the whole situation. It was one of the reasons their relationship was so strong

"Finn!" He heard him again.

He turned and saw Rory standing with Logan. "You rang?" he asked as he made his way to where they were.

"Time for a change of venue," Logan said as he smiled and headed towards the house.

"Oh, fantastic," Finn started. He was getting awfully bored of talking to parents. He looked at Rory, "Do I know you?"

She smiled, "Very funny Finn. You look handsome tonight."

"Nothing compared to how stunning you look." He put his arm out for her to grab, "Where to your highness?" he asked nodding to the tiara on her head when she gave him a confused look.

She slapped him playfully on the chest before resting her hand in the crook of his arm, "It's not funny Finn; I feel absolutely ridiculous."

"Don't luv, you look wonderful." He gave her a small kiss on the cheek. "So where shall we go to escape this horrid affair?"

"There's a pool house over here," she pointed to the back of the house.

"Pool house it is then," Finn replied, leading her in the direction she pointed.

* * *

The party in the pool house was much more entertaining than the snooze fest in the main house. Finn had found his seat next to Rory on the couch and enjoyed the selection of alcohol the room had to offer.

Rory was like a Grecian princess surrounded by male attendants. Logan had just offered her more drink.

"Sure why not?" she replied with a smile.

"Because drinking is bad. It's very very bad and we're bad for doing it." He looked at Rory" Spank me."

She smiled at him, "I think the hangover tomorrow will be punishment enough."

"She hasn't had enough champagne, Logan." He got up to go refill his glass as Logan took a seat right by Rory.

How he loathed this stupid rule. He'd give anything pull Rory to the side and shower her in his attention. What he wouldn't give to know what her lips felt like against his. The only thing he could hope for was that Rory would not fall for Logan's classic tricks; maybe she would choose himself instead. That was the loophole to the rule. If she chose Finn on her own it would cause no issues between him and Logan.

Logan stood from the couch, "Hmm. So, who's it going to be?" he asked pulling Finn out of his thoughts.

"What?" Rory looked thoroughly confused.

Logan raised his voice a bit getting all the other guys' attention, "Well, this shindig's an obvious meat market. I got the feeling your grandparents are expecting for you to choose someone tonight. So…"

Finn grabbed the vase of flowers and bottle of champagne next to him and kneeled on the floor in from of Rory. "Pick me."

Colin followed his lead, "No, pick me."

Immediately the rest of the guys in the room imitated the two of them.

"But I'm exotic," Finn added; it was his favorite line to use.

"So is the Asian bird flu," Colin replied.

"Wow. A room full of guys and still extremely slim pickings," Logan interjected.

"Well, I don't know. It's a pretty tough choice. Maybe I should let my boyfriend help me choose."

Logan had a look of pure disappointment on his face. "You have a boyfriend?"

"I'm crushed," Finn heard the disappointment in his voice. He felt so stupid. Of course she had a boyfriend; how could she not.

"Ain't it always the way?" he heard Colin chime in.

Logan sat down again by Rory, "Do Richard and Emily know about this?"

"Yeah, they do," Rory said almost solemnly.

"They were just trying to make sure you had a back-up?"

"No, they're just...oh, no! What time is it?" Rory's demeanor changed.

"It's crying time," Finn said, trying not to show his honest disappointment.

"Eight forty-five," Colin said.

Rory got up and started putting her shoes on. "Dean is meeting me at eight thirty," she said frantically.

Logan Colin and the guys decided they would walk out with Rory in order to catch a glimpse of the boyfriend. Finn wasn't too keen on the idea, but he joined them anyways.

They made their way through the main house and out the front door. There, in front of the house stood, tall looking bloke; his look soured immediately upon seeing the group of them that followed Rory out of the house.

Finn couldn't hear what was being said, but it didn't look like he was telling Rory anything nice. After a moment he got into his truck and drove off leaving her watch him leave. Finn's chest tightened with a smidge of anger that only got worse when he saw that she was crying.

In an attempted to lighten the mood as he and the rest of the guys headed back to the pool house.

The rest of the night Logan had made sure to be at her side; but Finn wasn't thinking about it too much. His mind was still back in the driveway, watching that piece of shit drive off and breaking her heart. He'd never thought he'd get so bothered over such a thing; but he was. It pissed him of that Her heart was broken in such a public and non-caring manner. The least the bloke could have done was taken her home where all of them weren't privy to the scene. But then again, at least she had a cheer-up crew like none other.

The night sped by; a blur of music, jokes and alcohol ending with them all dropping Rory off at her house. Her mood seemed significantly better at that moment, but it was more than likely just the alcohol.

When Finn got home himself all he could think about was Rory. He knew from the conversations in the limo that Logan was going to up his game not that she was on the rebound; but he hoped she wouldn't fall for it. She was smart, but Logan had a way of molding himself to be just what a girl thought she wanted or needed.

Part of him wondered if he should just forget about his affections; they probably wouldn't they even amount to anything. As he was falling asleep he remembered how warm her skin was when he kissed her cheek and the way she smiled when it was just the two of them.

No, he would definitely not give up so easily.


	6. Pranks, Fights, and Sisters

**AN: Hey everyone. I'm sorry for taking so long to update. I actually wanted this up last week, but the chapter wasn't cooperating with me. It took me a while to make it make sense. This chapter may leave some of you asking question. I promise those will be answered later in future chapters.  
** **I hope y'all enjoy. Please let me know what you think. I love reviews (yeah I know I'm an review whore :D)**

Three weeks had gone by since the Gilmore meat market party and things had been going well. Yes, Logan was still hovering around Rory like a gnat, but Finn had gotten himself some time with her. They had decided to study at the library together after their afternoon class on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Mostly they discussed their class assignments, but when they were done they would hang out and talk about life.

She had told him all about her home town Stars Hollow; the people alone make the place sound interesting. Finn could tell by the way she spoke of them that she had a lot of love for the people back home. She joke about how some dance instructor named Ms. Patty would love him for his accent alone, Of course most girls did; they never took the time to really know him; they just heard the accent and wanted to hook-up with an 'exotic man'.

Finn had shared some of his childhood with her; how he'd spent all of primary school and every summer in Australia with his paternal grandparents. How he still enjoys going over there during the holidays; especially during winter break, because it is warm over there.

Finn had been enjoying having his own time to get to know Rory. Of course he let go of his façade when he was around her. She had told him she would understand when they were around the others that he would be different than when they were alone. It really made him happy that she was so accepting of his way.

However, today she was quite ticked off with him.

"I can't believe you guys would embarrass me like that." She was getting after him for the prank Logan, Colin, and he pulled on her during her class last week.

Finn held his hands up in a faux surrender, "I know I know luv; but hey it wasn't my idea. I'm just a mindless follower."

She laughed at this; oh how he loved her laugh.

"Look Rory, I really am sorry. Our intentions were never to embarrass you so. You are an honorary member of the LDB, which means that you are going to be subjected to a few member pranks. You are also more than welcome to prank back," he smile, "Just nothing that ruins this pretty face of mine."

She laughed again, "I can't make any promises." She looked at her watch, "Oh crap I have to go. I have some stuff to do for the paper." She gathered up her books, "So next Tuesday?"

"It's a date luv," He smiled as he watched her make her exit.

Finn returned to his room later that day to find Stephanie asleep on his bed. He had given her a key in case she needed to get away from her dorm. Her roommates, Rosemary and Juliet had a habit of getting into explosive arguments over guys. The last fight he witnessed resulted in a smashed TV and a small fire. Finn did not understand how they remained friends, but they somehow always made up at the end of each fight.

Stephanie had gotten caught in the middle of one of the fights and ended up with a broken finger. So he decided he needed to protect her from these blowouts. She was, after all, the closest person to him, other than his mother; she was more of a sister to him than his actual sisters.

He set his stuff in his chair and took a seat on the bed. He gently shook her.

Her eyes cracked open and a smile spread on her face. "Well if this isn't the best sight to wake up to," her voice was laced with grogginess.

Finn brushed her hair out of her face. "So how bad was it this time?"

She sat up and leaned her back against his headboard. "Oh I think this one may be the worst yet. Let's just say I'll be lucky if my belongings make it unscathed."

Finn's eyebrows shot up, "Really? That bad? Who's the lucky bloke this time?"

Stephanie chuckled a bit, "Believe it or not you are."

"Why, little ol' me?" He said, imitating a southern accent. "What did I ever do to become the rope in their tug of war?"

Stephanie shrugged, "Honestly I don't know. It's not like they have actually taken the time to get to know you. I think Juliet has a thing for your accent and gets jealous when you hit on Rosemary."

"I cannot be held accountable for my actions while intoxicated," Finn defended. He thought Rosemary was attractive enough, but most of what he said was just the alcohol. He really didn't fancy getting her into bed that much. "Why would Juliet be so jealous when she sees Rosemary shoot me down every time I hit on her?"

"Again, I have no clue." Stephanie started to get out of bed. "But the fight is bad; hair-pulling, scratching, and biting. I'll be surprised if they recover from this." She was now checking her reflection in his dresser mirror. "The funny thing is, I doubt either of them would want you if they knew the real you."

"Jeez thanks Steph."

"You know I don't mean it the way it sounds. What I mean is they wouldn't like that you're not the person they think you are. Everyone thinks you are this exotic party animal; they think that when you are not parting with them you are off partying with other people. Honestly, I think even Logan and Colin think the same. No one realizes that there is a more serious side to you."

"No one ever has, but you luv," and now Rory. She was slowly learning of the more serious side of him.

Finn preferred to be a mystery to people; he really didn't want everyone knowing too much about him. He had his skeletons that he liked to keep in his closet. The only reason Stephanie knew anything was because she shared the same skeletons. They had actually been friends since sophomore year of high school and had shared a lot more than skeletons.

Stephanie was now using Finn's comb to work the knots out of her hair, "Hey speaking of serious sides, how are your sisters?"

Finn let out a dramatic sigh, "Oh you know, just rubbing their perfections in my face every chance they get." Fins sisters were unflawed in his father's eyes. Finn could never quite measure up when it came to older pair.

Isabella and Camila were twins and 5 years older than Finn. Isabella had graduated from Yale law last year and had received several job offers before she had even crossed the stage. Camila had finished her undergrad classes at Yale and then went on to Harvard medical school. It caused a little friction with their father that she didn't continue her schooling at Yale, but she sweet-talked him into seeing her side.

His father never missed a chance to brag about his wonderful girls; and he especially never missed a chance to bring comment on how Finn wasn't nearly as good as them. He usually said something along the line of, 'I hope one day Finn will get his act together. He could do just as well as his sisters'. Yeah, Finn knew where stood on the totem pole; well at least with his father. His mother, thankfully, had always treated all her children with kindness and love; however, she got along a little better with Finn; they had common personalities and a shared sense of humor.

"What have they cured cancer?" Steph asked sarcastically.

"You'd think with the way my father brags. No, Isabella announced her engagement last week; some bloke who make it big in the insurance industry."

Stephanie squealed, "Oh yay! A Morgan wedding! I've been waiting for another one of these since your cousin Mia got married senior year." It was true; Morgan weddings tended to be extravagant even for a girl like Stephanie who grew up in high society. "Please, let me be your date to the wedding."

Finn rolled his eyes, "Begging doesn't look good on anyone, Steph; not even you. Besides I doubt I'll be attending."

She did a little flip with her hair, "Nonsense, anything looks good on me; and how can you not go. She is your sister."

Finn didn't respond to this; instead he fell back on his bed and cradled his head in his hands. He felt the desperate need to talk about anything but his sisters. "My birthday is coming up. What should we do for it?"

Stephanie turned and gave him an apologetic look. She knew she shouldn't ask about his sisters, but he knew her curiosity sometimes got the better of her; after all, she too had history with them. She moved back to the bed and lied down on the bed beside him. "A party of course," she said with an exaggerated grin spreading across her face.

Finn turned his head to look at her, "Hmm, yes, a party sounds spectacular. Wherever do you come up with these wonderful ideas?" His tone was playfully mocking. In truth he relied upon Stephanie for party planning. She was a whole lot more creative than he, and much better at organizing events.

She moved from her back to her knees, "Okay so I'll start hammering out the details for that. We have about two months right?" Finn nodded, "Great then, it's settled." She beamed with excitement. Finn couldn't help but smile along with her.


	7. Harsh Reality

**AN: Hey everyone. This chapter is a bit shorter, but important. This will give you another glimpse of why Finn doesn't care too much for his sisters.  
Hope you all enjoy!**

"No."

"Please."

"No."

"Please, Finn, please."

"How many times do I have to say 'no'?"

"Until it turns into a yes; you know I can be quite persistent." Isabella was currently following Finn around the Yale campus begging him for a favor. She had tried to call him several times, but he had chosen to ignore her. He knew that if there was an emergency she and Camila would be the last people to contact him.

"Well too bad, your persistence will do you no good here."

"Why not?" Isabella asked sternly.

"I have no interest in being your fiancé's groomsman," he huffed. "I don't even know the bloke. Aren't a guy's mates usually the groomsmen?"

She made her way in front of him and stopped him in his tracks. "Yes, but I have more bridesmaids than he has groomsmen and I cannot have an uneven number at my wedding."

Finn ran his fingers through his hair, "Look Bella, if it weren't for the fact that mother was insisting that I go I wouldn't even bother showing up."

Isabella's expression fell, "Why would you not go to my wedding?"

"Why in the hell would I want to go?"

"Because I'm your sister."

With a roll of his eyes Finn moved around his sister and continued towards his class. It was Tuesday and he always looked forward to seeing Rory. At this point he'd rather be anywhere than talking to his sister.

Isabella made her way back in his path, "Look, Finn, I know we haven't always gotten along, but…"

"Not always gotten along?" Finn cut her off, "Bella, you and Cami did nothing but make my life hell growing up."

"That's a little drastic isn't it?" Isabella scoffed.

Finn made direct eye contact with her, "Really? Whay don't you ask the three child psychologists I had?"

Finn had been an awkward child growing up; he had always been on the scrawny side, and had a few medical issues such as asthma. His sisters had never missed an opportunity to brutally mock or tease him, and any time they got a chance they would play cruel jokes on him; he also got blamed for stuff they did.

"Oh please Finn, you were a sensitive kid. You just didn't understand that that was our way of bonding with you."

Finn let out a bitter laugh, "Some bonding. Because of you two I had 5 broken bones, 3 concussions, and my stomach pumped all before I was 15. Explain to me how I was supposed to view all those experiences?"

Isabella said nothing. She was, for once, at a loss for words.

Finn started to leave when she finally spoke, "We got better though; didn't we?"

"Oh sure. Why don't you ring Vanessa up and ask her?" his voice dripped in sarcasm

Vanessa was Stephanie's best friend and Finn's first girlfriend in high school. She was a little on the heavier side, and lacked the social standing his family had. He hadn't care. She was smart, kind, and funny. She had earned herself a full scholarship to Hopkins Prep.

This however, did not stop Camila and Isabella taking every opportunity to mock him for dating her and openly ridiculing her in while she was present.

After two years of dating Vanessa had attempted suicide. With the combination of the constant bullying at school, and the added bullying from her boyfriend's sisters, it had become too much for her.

Finn didn't like to dwell on that time too much.

Isabella looked uncomfortable.

"Look Bella, you are my sister and that's it. I am not your friend to call on favors for." His tone darkened a little, "I don't care if your wedding is a success, fail, or if you have the proper number of groomsmen or not. I wish nothing more to do with this wedding than be an unwilling guest. The only bright side to it is Morgans always insist upon an open bar."

He didn't wait for her to respond; instead he made his way around her and continued to class without looking back.


	8. Birthday Gift

**AN: Brace yourselves fans; y'all will love this chapter! Let me know what you think.**

Finn's birthday party was in full swing. The whole LDB was there along with many non-LDB members. Finn's mood had been quite good all night, and only better when he saw Rory had chosen to attend. True she had come as Robert's date, but the bright side was she was not Logan's date. That fact alone had Finn smiling like a lunatic.

Finn was also enjoying the fact that Rory seemed to own a school girl outfit; his imagination could go wild with this new vision of her. He was currently standing at the edge of the room nursing a glass of whiskey while enjoying his view of her.

"Can you believe Robert asked Rory to come with him?" Logan appeared at Finn's side. He wondered if Logan had seen Finn staring at Rory. He glanced at the couple; they looked to be in a deep discussion about something; if he had to guess it was probably a book or an author.

"What do you care mate?" Finn asked trying to sound uninterested.

"He knows I have dibs on Rory," Logan stated possessively. He then turned his back to them.

"Ah, but that is where you are wrong mate." Finn had to make strong efforts to hide his glee at Logan's jealousy. "Since you have openly bragged about your non-commitment relationship with Rory your dibs is now null and void. Any of us can now pursue her if we want."

Finn saw Logan's expression sour, but he didn't say anything. "Why so bummed mate, haven't you already gotten what you wanted?"

Logan leaned towards Finn, "Let's just say I'm a little selfish when it comes to my toys."

It took everything in Finn to not knock Logan out right then and there. How dare he talk about Rory in such a callous manner? "Logan, don't be an asshole, Rory is not an object to be owned. She's a human being."

Logan laughed, "Yeah whatever you say. Anyone can be bought for the right amount of money, and if they can be bought they can be owned. Life is all about money and who has more of it," his tone was smug.

Unfortunately for Logan, Rory overheard what Logan had said about her. She had behind Logan for most of the conversation without either of them noticing.

When Finn finally saw her he felt his jaw drop. Logan must have seen this because he turned to seen what Finn was looking at. It was too late; Rory's hand violently connected with his cheek. Before he even had the chance to properly react she was gone. Finn watched as she made her way through the crowd and out of the building.

Logan rubbed the sop on his cheek where her hand had made contact. After a moment he followed the same path she had taken and soon after Finn followed suit.

"I can't believe you would say such a thing! You're such an asshole Logan," Finn overheard Rory shouting. He was currently being very creepy, standing just around the corner from where Rory and Logan were having a very heated argument.

"Ace, you misunderstood me," Logan tried to defend himself; not very convincingly in Finn's book.

"Misunderstood? There is not much to misunderstand when you say I am your toy. When you say that you are able to buy and own me." Finn had never heard Rory sound this way before. Usually she was softer spoken and conscious of those around her. Now it was as if she didn't care if the whole street heard her.

"Ace you know…"

"Shut up Logan."

"Ace…"

"Go away Logan!"

Logan threw his hands up and turned, angrily storming away. He must have been caught up in his thoughts because he had walked right past Finn and not noticed him at all.

Finn waited a moment before he made his way to where a now tearful Rory was sitting. Without hesitation he sat beside her and she surprised him by leaning over and resting her head on his shoulder. This simple contact caused Finn's stomach to do flips. Oh how he wish he could kiss away her tears and hold her until she smiled again.

Neither of them said anything for a long while. Finn wanted to let her speak first. He knew she might not want to speak at all and that was something he'd just have to deal with.

Just when he thought that that may be the case Rory spoke. "Why do I always attract jerks?" Her voice was horse from all the yelling she had just done.

"Always?" Finn asked softly, "Isn't that a bit of an exaggeration? I mean of course Logan is a jerk, an ass-hat really, but not every bloke that has been attracted to you has been a jerk."

She lifted her head to look at him. "All of my exes are. Look at how Dean broke up with me in front of all of you."

Finn's found he was clenching his fists again. "Don't even get me started on him, luv. He needs to be properly ruffed up for hurting you the way he did. In fact I wouldn't mind taking on that responsibility."

A soft smiled played on her lips, but quickly disappeared. "That almost pales in comparison to how my ex Jess just up and left town without so much as a 'good-bye'."

Finn was finding that his shit list was going longer the more Rory talked. Dean had been on it since the day he witnessed him openly break her heart in front of a bunch of strangers. Now Logan and some bloke named Jess were added to it. She deserved so much better than these assholes.

"Rory, luv, trust me when I say that you do not only attract jerks." His voice was stern and he hoped she got his point. "You can do so much better than Logan Huntzberger. It's not like it's hard to do better than him. Shit, even I am a better man than him."

A soft smile formed on her lips. "So what are you saying, I should be with you?"

Finn felt his heart do a little flutter. That is exactly what he wanted. Before his brain could object he leaned forward and gently pressed his lips to hers.

The kiss only lasted a couple of second before he pulled back. "I couldn't be the worst idea out there."

Rory looked stunned, but not necessarily in a bad way. Her mouth was moving but nothing was coming out. They both were saved the awkwardness of talking about it when Robert found them.

"Rory, Finn, what are you doing out here? You guys are missing out on the awesome catfight that just broke out."

With much effort Finn tore his eyes away from Rory and looked up at Robert. "Who is fighting at such a glorious event?"

"Jules and Rose. "

Finn let out a long sigh and got up from his seat. "Okay let's go separate them." As Robert headed back inside he turned back to Rory, "As much as I hate to, I must leave you, luv. I do hope we can continue this conversation another time." With that he offered her a wink and headed back to the party.


	9. Notes and Dinner Parties

**AN: Okay I finally got this chapter done. I hope it's not crap because I've been working on it for the past week. I tried to get a decent flow, but if it still seem choppy I'm sorry. Things for Finn are going to start looking up; BUT keep an eye out there is a darker chapter coming up. I hope y'all enjoy this. Let me know what you think.**

The week following Finn's birthday happened to be Thanksgiving break, preventing Finn the chance to see Rory for an entire 8 days. And those 8 days had move and a remarkably slow pace.

Though Finn had remained in the States, he hadn't had a chance to see or talk to any of his friends. Instead he had the terrible fortune of having to hear his sisters' constant gossips about wedding colors, venues, guests, flower, and budget. He had even witnessed Bella throw more than one fit over how 'low' their father had set the budget on her dress. If you asked him, Finn would say $10,000 on a dress was quite a fair number seeing as she didn't do a damn thing for that money.

Most of the break, when he wasn't being demanded to help with mind-numbing tasks, he found his mind wondering to the night of his birthday party. Sure his kiss with Rory was quick, and she didn't have an adequate amount of time to respond to it, but he still couldn't stop thinking about how soft her lips were; how she didn't immediately pull back from him; how what might have happened if he gave her time to kiss back.

He wondered if she thought about it. Did she like his kiss? Was it too forward for her? Of course he knew when he got back to Yale they would eventually have to talk about it. He didn't want to lose what he had with her because of any awkwardness.

When classes resumed they did have the awkward post-party, post-kiss talk; but it was made a little less awkward since they weren't actually talking, but instead passing a note back and forth during their Tuesday class.

Finn had been running a little late to class, but when he got there he found his seat next to Rory and discovered a folded piece of paper sitting on the desk. Intrigued he glanced at Rory whose eyes were trained on the white board at the front of the class.

With a smile Finn took his seat and proceeded to unfold the note.

 _We need to talk about what happened at your party._

Finn smiled. He knew that she would want to talk to him about the kiss, but he didn't know they would be partaking in not-passing to do it.

He fished through his bag for a pen and the scribbled back his response; _I was pretty drunk at that party. You'll have to tell me specifically what we have to talk about. I think we should talk about how I need to have more parties where you are required to wear a school girl uniform._

He folded the paper and handed it back to her. He watched her as she opened the letter and read it. A blush instantly crept up her cheeks.

She leaned over and wrote her reply and handed it back to him without bothering to fold it back up.

 _You know what I am talking about. The kiss._

There it was. He had a choice here; he could tell her that he blacked out at some point and save her the continued awkwardness, or he could be truthful.

He chose the truth.

 _Luv if you are asking me if I remember kissing you I do. But before you get mad I am sorry for any uncomfortableness I may have caused you. It was not my wish. I hope it does not ruin our friendship._

He passed the note back and waited for her response. His heart was pounding against his chest. He had no idea what she may write back.

After a few long minutes she gave him back the note.

 _I'm not uncomfortable and you certainly cannot ruin our friendship with one kiss. I just never thought that you thought of me even remotely in that way. I mean kissable. I mean like you want to kiss me. But no you didn't ruin our friendship._

Finn smiled. He never thought someone could babble on paper.

 _Of course you are kissable. I'm glad that mothing is ruined. Is that all?_

When he handed it back she read the note but didn't reply right away. She looked at the paper thoughtfully before writing her lengthy response and handing the paper back again.

 _I just want to make sure that everything between us is ok. Are we still gonna study together? I enjoy our study sessions and I don't want them to end. Are we still on for after class?._

Finn smiled again at the babbling note. It seemed like she just wrote whatever came to her mind. He scribbled his quick response and handed it back.

 _It's a date._

Her blush returned.

Later on after class the two of them wound up at the usual table in the library. There was a brief moment of awkwardness, but it quickly passed when they started discussing the topic from class that day.

Since they had been passing the note back and forth they each had holes in their notes that the other could fill. After going through all their notes they started on their usual ritual of small talk. Finn had a feeling that Rory was postponing the talk she said they should have, but he wasn't about to push her on it. He was just happy to be around her again.

"So Finn, are you going to Australia for the winter break?"

"Oh how I wish. My Nana and Granddad are coming to the states this year. Since Bella's wedding is in April, they are going to stay through until the event. What about you, luv? What does the lovely Rory Gilmore have planned for winter break?"

He saw her blush slightly. "Well, were to start? I know I have the Winter Festival in Stars Hollow, and my grandmother is having a winter dinner party the weekend after finals that she will expect me at."

"Oh yeah, I think my family has been invited to that."

"Really?"

"Yeah. Your grandfather and my father have some business dealings. My father has gone to your grandfather for all the insurance on his restaurants and hotels here in the States."

"How many restaurants and hotels does your dad own?"

Finn thought for a moment, mentally counting his father's properties. "Well, her had 10 hotels her in the States; mostly on the east coast; and he has 3 restaurants here in Connecticut and maybe 5 or 6 more scattered along the east coast. Over in Australia he has 20 hotels and 15 restaurants throughout the country."

Rory's jaw dropped slightly. "Wow," was all she said.

Finn smiled slightly, "Yeah, he is hoping to expand to the west coast, but he is waiting until I graduate. He's hoping that I'll be his partner in the business."

Rory looked at him thoughtfully, "Do you want to go into business with your father?"

Rory was only the third person to ever ask him that question. Stephanie and his mother were the other two. Finn knew that if he were to work with his father he would always be less than happy with his life.

Sure the money was good, but Finn had no interests in hotels or restaurants.

"You know I don't think I do." He finally said.

She smiled, "Good. You don't seem like the stuffy business type."

This caused him to laugh. "Well what type do I seem like to you?"

She thought for a moment and the brightly responded, "Well, you seem like the type who wants to make people happy. You need a job that is not going to restrict your personal freedom and your awesome sense of style. You wouldn't do well stuck in a board room with a bunch of stuck up business suits."

Finn smiled yet again. This girl knew more about him than most his family did. She _was_ right though; Finn wanted to be able to remain who he was. He didn't want to put on a façade every day. "So I guess I'll get to see you this winter break?"

"Yeah I guess so," Rory said returning his smile. "Oh!" She shouted suddenly earning a few unpleased glares from the students nearby. "Would you do me a favor?"

Finn's smile faltered slightly. "Sure," he replied; his voice was coated in confusion.

"If you are going to the dinner party, will you be my date? I just know my grandma is going to try and set me up with someone again, and I would much rather not have a repeat of the last 'party' you attended." Finn figure she was talking about the Yale meat market party. "If I tell her that I am going with you then she will drop the subject for a while."

"Rory Gilmore, you can't fool me. You are you trying to _use_ me for my sexy body." Finn's voiced mocked offence.

The blush returned to her cheeks. "Please Finn," her voice raised an octave and she started batting her eyelashes.

Finn took a moment to admire the beauty of her eyes. After a moment he finally caved, "Okay okay. Please stop with the eyelash-batting. I'll be your date to the dinner party on one condition."

A hesitant smile formed on her face, "What is the condition?"

"I'd like you to go on a _real_ date with me."


	10. The First Date

**AN: This chapter was hard work but well worth it. I hope y'all enjoy!**

Tonight was the night! Finals were finally over and Finn was getting his date with Rory. He was excited but very nervous; this was the first proper date he had been on in a long time.

Stephanie had shown up to make sure that the outfit he wore was 'date worthy'. It's not that he cared about style and appearances, but he really wanted the date to go well and if that meant dressing out of his 'norm' then he sure as hell would do it.

"Do your dad's restaurants require jackets?" She asked as she rummages through his closet.

"Some of them do, but the one I'm taking her to, Maisonette, doesn't."

"Doesn't maisonette mean room or something?"

Finn laughed, "Yeah. My father always sucked at picking names for his restaurants so he literally opened random books until he found a word that he thought sounded good to him."

"Wow, good thing your mother didn't let him name your sisters."

They both shared at laugh at that thought.

"Okay so let's get on with this, you have to pick Rory up in an hour. I think you should go with light blue shirt and black pants." Stephanie pulled the selected garments out of his closet. "Do you have to wear a tie?"

"No, thank God." Finn got up from where he was laying on the bed. "Thanks for all this, Steph, you are the best mate a guy could have."

Stephanie smile, "Hey I have my own motives for helping you. I scratch your back you scratch mine, remember?"

What Stephanie was referring to was the fact that she wanted Finn to get Colin to ask her out. He was supposed to do this without letting Colin know that she was behind it all. Stephanie had had a major thing for Colin since last year, and while she was great at luring bar guys to her, she somehow hadn't managed to charm Colin.

"Yeah yeah, Steph, I know and accept my mission." He moved across the room and retrieved that towel that was hanging on the door. "I'm going to hop in the shower quickly. Could you be a doll and iron those for me?" he kissed her cheek and headed off to the bathroom.

Finn stood outside of Rory's dorm room door. He felt his nerves hit him again. It really had been years since he had taken a girl out on a 'date'. He had never really found a girl that he wanted to 'wine and dine', but Rory was the first girl he had been seriously interested in since high school. He just hoped that she had some interest in him.

After another moment of hesitation Finn finally lifted his free hand to knock.

It only took about 15 seconds for the door to swing open. Unfortunately it was not Rory who opened the door.

"So you're the date?" The blonde in front of him looked less than impressed to see him. It looked as if she had perfected the scowl that currently occupied her face.

Finn wasn't going to let this shiela bother him. "The name's Finn Morgan," he replied as he extended the hand that was not holding flowers to her.

"Paris Geller," she took his hand and griped it firmly, "best friend, roommate, and knower of 10 lethal defensive moves. I hope you keep that in mind while you are with Rory tonight. She means a lot to me, and if you hurt her in any way, physically _or_ emotionally, I will be forced to take action." Her tone was fierce yet calm.

Before Finn had the chance to reply he heard Rory's voice, "Paris stop threatening Finn." His gaze immediately glued onto her as she walked into his view.

Goddamn she was gorgeous. She was wearing a flowy green and black patterned skirt that stopped above her knees and a simple long sleeved, form-fitting, black top that rested on her shoulders. The outfit was not over the top, but it so perfect on her.

Before he go too caught up staring at her he presented the flowers he had been holding; an assortment of purple and white he'd found at the flower shop a couple blocks away. He didn't know if Rory was the flower receiving type of girl, but he figured it couldn't hurt.

Her face immediately lit up at the sight of the flowers. "Finn they're beautiful. Thank you. Let me go put them in my room and we can head out." She disappeared back into her room.

Finn was ever aware of Paris' eyes burning a hole in the side of his head, but he refused to look at her. She was the type of person who wanted to know that she was affecting you; he wouldn't give her that satisfaction.

Rory reemerged from her room with her coat and a hand bag on her arm. Finn approached her and took the coat from her. She looked confused at first, but then gathered that he was offering to help her put it on.

Once she was buttoned up Finn offered her his arm and led her out of the dorm leaving her Scrooge of a roommate behind.

Finn wasn't being cheap by taking her to his father's restaurant. He just knew the staff there very well, and he knew that they could get a private room along with excellent service. They showed up for their 6:30 reservations and were promptly seated in the emerald room.

The room consisted of its own wait staff, a private bar, and a beautiful view through the large picture window. The room was usually booked months in advance and would cost a patron a pretty penny. Luckily for Finn someone had cancelled their reservation three weeks. The restaurant was to always call the family first before allowing a cancellation to be filled. Thanks to that, he had gotten to take Rory out on a truly magnificent date.

Once they were seated the ordered their drinks, a rum and coke for him and a soda for her, and then were left to peruse the menu.

"So what's good here?" Rory asked seemingly trying to launch the small talk.

Finn hadn't even touched his menu. "Well, in my personal opinion, whatever Harvey makes is amazing."

Rory looked confused, "Harvey?"

Finn nodded, "The head chef."

"The head chef's name is Harvey?"

"Yeah. Is there something wrong with the name Harvey?"

"Oh no," she quickly defended, "It's just, usually at fancy restaurants such as this, the head chef usually has a name like Pier or Jon Paul. You know something like that."

Finn laughed. "Well, Harvey doesn't have a fancy French name, but he is one of the best chefs I know."

She blushed slightly. "Well, since you know Harvey's cooking so well, I will risk sounding old school and ask you to order for me. I'm not really picky."

Finn smiled and waved the waiter to the table. "We'd like the roasted tomatoes with asiago cheese to start out with. Please follow that with garlic chicken with mozzarella and mushrooms, and stuffed pork tenderloin" He looked at Rory, "Do you like asparagus?" Rory nodded, "and add one side of salt and peppered asparagus and roasted artichoke." The waiter nodded and headed off.

When Finn turned back to Rory she was gaping at him.

"What?" he asked.

"Nothing. Everything you order sounds amazing."

He smiled "I figured you could have a taste of a few different things rather than have to just decide on one dish. That is if you don't mind share with me."

"Oh not at all," she smiled. That smile would be the death of him.

Once their appetizer arrived they settled into comfortable conversation, taking about Stars Hollow's and the colorful people there. "So you're telling this bloke just makes whatever rules he wants and expects you all to follow them?"

"I don't know if he makes them up or if they are actual long-standing rules, but it seems like some of them just appear out of nowhere. They usually inconvenience people. He is more often than not getting on Luke's bad side."

"Luke. He's the diner owner right?"

"Yeah, he good guy when he wants to be, but he has a really bad temper when it comes to Taylor. I think he threatens to hurt Taylor just about every day."

Their conversations carried on through their entrées and landed on Finn's dysfunctional family. He was careful of what he said; he wasn't quite ready to completely reveal how messed up family was.

Rory letting her reporter side show had started asking him a series of questions. He happily answered all of them. "So you're a junior to your father?"

"No my father is the junior, I'm the third."

"Hmm. So your grandfather is the original Phineas?"

"Yeah, dear old granddad."

"So who started calling you Finn?"

"My mother," he laughed. "She couldn't stand the name Phineas, not that I could blame her, so she started calling me Finn. My father tried his best to counter her actions, but once Bella and Cami started calling me Finn it was all over."

"Do you like having sisters?"

"Not really. My sisters are their own breed of selfish, uptight, and evil all mixed together and in a two for one deal."

"They can't be that bad, can they?" She asked sympathetically.

"Oh trust me, I'm down playing it."

They were quite for a moment; but the silence was broken but the waiter coming to the table. "Would you like any dessert?"

Finn looked at Rory who nodded in response. "We'll have the gourmet brownie."

Rory's smile widened, "You are amazing."

When they finished their dessert Finn drove them back to campus. They continued to talk about the more lighthearted parts of their lives all the way until they reached Rory's dorm.

Here it was; the awkward, end of the date good-bye. He didn't know if he should just hug her or try for another kiss. Before he could think on it too long Rory leaned up and pressed her lips to his.

It took him just half a second to react and return the kiss. Unlike the first time this kiss lasted for more than 2 seconds, however it was still over too soon.

Rory pulled back from the kiss and looked up at Finn. "Thank you for a wonderful date," she smiled. "I can't wait for our next one." And with that she disappeared into her dorm.


	11. Soulmate Mothers

**AN: Oh how I am loving how this story is developing. This is mainly a fluff chapter. Next chapter, as you will see at the end of this chapter, there will be some conflict. I am hoping to get the next chapter up before I leave town, but I more than likely won't get to. It should be up no later than next week though. If you are following my other story A Downward Spiral, I am working on the next chapter and hope to have it out by tomorrow.**

 **I hope you all enjoy this chapter. Please let me know how you are liking the story as a whole so far.**

"You're fussing again," Finn's mother stated as they approached the Gilmore house.

"I hate ties." Finn had been constantly adjusting the infuriating piece of clothing since he put it on. He wanted to look good for Rory, but damn this blasted tie.

"Why are you so fidgety?" Camila interjected. Since it was winter break, Finn had the ultimate displeasure of having _both_ his sisters join him and his parents to the Gilmore diner party. "Are you hoping to attract a lovely lady tonight? We should have stopped at a Weight Watchers meeting before coming here. That way we could be sure to get the perfect Sheila for you." Oh this was going to be a long night.

"Camila Victoria Morgan, I will not stand for you acting like a child. You will act like the adult you are. For crying out loud, you are 27 after all," Amelia scolded her daughter. She turned to her other daughter, "That goes the same for you Isabella."

"Yes mother," the girls replied in unison. They both looked like toddlers who had just been chastised for sticking their hands in the cookie jar.

On the inside, because he knew better than to openly share this kind of emotion, Finn was rolling on the floor laughing. He loved when his mother got after his sisters. Lord knew his father would never discipline them.

Once they got to the front door Finn gave up the fight with his tie. All he could hope is that he looked good enough for Rory.

His father rang the doorbell and a second later the door swung open. Two maids were there to greet them and take their coats. Once Finn was rid of his coat he quickly separated himself from his family to search for Rory.

He really had no interest in hearing how Jason, James, whatever the bloke's name was, purposed. He had heard the blasted story 5 times already, and every time it got more and more annoying. He could only imagine how many times she would have the opportunity to brag here.

He had finally found Rory; she was in the sitting room sitting on the couch. On one side of her was an attractive looking woman who bore much resemblance to Rory; more than likely her mother. On the other side of her was Richard Gilmore. The two of them seemed to be deep in conversation about something.

He waited until there was a pause in the conversation and then made his approach.

"Finn!" Rory shouted; was it just him or did she seem really eager to see him?

As Finn made his way too them, the tree occupants on the couch stood at the same time. Once he made it to Rory's side he rested his hand on her lower back and leaded down to give her a kiss on the cheek. "Rory, you are looking lovely as ever." He then turned his gaze to Richard and offered his hand, "Mr. Gilmore, it is always nice to see you."

The male Gilmore greeted him with a solid handshake. "Finn, it's good to see you too. You know you can call me Richard."

"Ah yes please forgive me."

"No worries, son. Is your father here?"

"I believe he and my mother already hit the appetizer table. I'm afraid he skipped lunch. When he does that he tends to get a bit cranky."

Richard nodded, "Yes, I know that feeling. Well, you enjoy the party. I will see you around." With that he made his way towards the food area.

Finn turned back to Rory and the woman by her. "Where are my manners? My name is Finn Morgan," he stated as he offered his hand, "I'd ask if you were Rory's sister, but I know that is the oldest line in the book. That and you don't look like a toddler." Finn had remembered that Rory mentioned having a half-sister who was 3 or 4.

The woman smiled, "Good call, I would have called you out on that in a heartbeat. I'm Lorelai Gilmore. Birth-giver of Rory."

"Mom!" Rory said, her voice strained with embarrassment.

"What? It's true," her mom smiled.

"Well, Ms. Gilmore, at the risk of actually sounding corny, I do see now where Rory gets her good looks from."

"Oh please, call me Lorelai. And my daughter never told me she was dating anyone. Rory?" Her statement was unfortunately loud enough, for Finn's mother, who had been on her way to where they were standing, to hear.

"Finn, you didn't tell me you were _dating_ Emily's granddaughter. Is this the wonderful girl you have been raving to me about? How come you didn't mention it was Rory?" His mother's questions were flying at him a mile a minute.

It didn't help that as soon as her line of questioning was done, Lorelai's began. "Rory, you didn't tell me anything about _liking_ a cute Australian boy let alone _dating_ one. How long has this been going on?"

"Did it start at the last dinner party we attended?" His mother asked.

"You mean the 'was supposed to be an alumni dinner but ended up being an auction off Rory dinner' dinner? Is that how you two started dating?" Lorelai added.

They were both talking so fast that neither Finn nor Rory got a chance to speak.

Amelia looked at Lorelai, "Oh yes, Finn, were you the lucky guy that Rory picked? It was quite obvious that Emily had ulterior motives for that dinner."

Lorelai laughed, "My mother has ulterior motives for everything she does."

"Sounds like my mother in-law," Amelia returned.

The two women got so caught up in their discussion that Finn and Rory were able to slip away unnoticed.

When they made it out to the patio they both busted out laughing. "Could that have been any more awkward?" Rory managed to say through her giggles.

"I swear it's like our mothers are soulmates." Finn added, a huge smile stretched across his face.

Rory's giggles finally subsided. "Is your mom usually like that? I mean, she seems more like my mom."

Finn led Rory to the garden bench at the far end of the patio and they both sat. "My mother is a different breed of people. She enjoys see how far she can push boundaries and she has a love for being outrageous."

"Okay, scary. Your mom sounds way too much like my mom. My mom has never really cared for this whole society scene. She revels in making my grandma upset and showing off exactly how much she doesn't care what people think."

"Yep," Finn said, "they're soulmates."

"So," Rory finally said after a moment, "you've been raving about me to your mom?"

"Uh…well, you see…" Finn felt his cheeks warm. He didn't want to lie so he just said, "Yes."

It was Rory's turn to blush.

Finn lifted his hand to brush some stray hair off of her face. She grabbed his hand and pressed her cheek into his palm.

"God Rory, you are so beautiful." He leaned and kissed her.

Her hand immediately wrapped around his neck, pulling closer to him. He tentatively parted his lips and was please when she did the same. Finn was extremely grateful that they would not be able to be seen from where that sat.

His glee was short-lived when he heard an all too familiar voice approaching, "Well, well, well, what do we have here?" Finn and Rory broke apart and turned to look at the figure that now stood before them.

Logan.


	12. Well Well Well

**AN: I hated/loved writing this chapter. This was by far the hardest chapter for me. I'm sorry if it disappoints anyone, but I promise to make up for it. As usual, let me know your thoughts.**

"Well, well, well, what do we have here?" Logan was smiling down at the two of them sitting on the bench. There was crazy look in his eye; it was barely noticeable, but Finn saw it. "Looks like you two have become well acquainted."

Rory stood and Finn followed suit. "What are you doing here Logan?" She asked her tone less than kind.

A cocky smirk covered his face, "Emily invited me, of course. It seems like she really likes me. In fact she has asked my family and me if we could attend all her events." His smirk grew wider, "Looks like we will get to see more of each other, Rory."

"Fantastic," she replied sarcastically.

"So, what's going on with the two of you? I didn't realize that you two knew each other so well." His smirk grew even cockier.

Neither Finn nor Rory answered his question. Finn guessed, like him, Rory knew better than to feed into Logan's self-pleasing games. Instead she looped her arm around Finn's and started moving towards the house. "Come on, Finn, we should get back to the party. I don't want my grandma to realize I'm not in there."

Finn nodded in response and moved with her.

Just as they got to the main patio Finn felt a hand grasp firmly on his upper arm.

"So this is how you do things now, Finn?" Logan's voice was harsh, but still quiet.

"What are you talking about, mate?"

"You just sweep in and take what's not yours?" Logan sneered.

Before Finn could get a word out, Rory stepped between them, "Excuse you," her voice was stern, "are you implying that I was yours?" She takes a surprisingly intimidating step towards him causing him to step back. "Logan Huntzberger, I was in no way, shape, or form _yours_." She opens her mouth to continue, but is cut off by two high-pitched laughs.

"Rory, my favorite daughter!"

"Finn, my favorite son!"

Lorelai and Amelia make their way to the current scene.

Rory backed away from Logan and returned to standing by Finn. They look at each other, clearly bracing themselves for whatever it is their mothers were about to say and or do.

Lorelai was the first to speak, "Rory, where have you been. We were looking all over for you."

"Yes Finn. Why did you two sneak away?" Finn could tell that both women had probably passed the bar once or twice while looking for the two of them. "Oh, hello Logan. I didn't know you and your family were here tonight." She had a forced, pleasant tone to her voice. She had never actually liked Logan, only tolerated him.

Lorelai started to mutter to herself, "Logan, Logan, Logan. Why does that name…Oh is this _the_ Logan." She looked at Rory, who simply nodded.

Finn wondered what the 'the' stood for. He saw Logan's cocky smirk return; no doubt reveling in the fact that Rory had obviously talked to her mom about him. He figured he would find out what they talked about when Lorelai had suddenly got very serious.

She leaned over and whispered something in to Amelia's ear and then both women turned and glared at Logan. Amelia broke the tense silence, "Logan, I think it'd best if you go find Mitchum and Shira and you all leave the party." Her voice was calm but still had that no nonsense vibe to it.

Logan's smirk was replaced with confusion, "Excuse me? Why should I…"

Lorelai interrupted him, "It would be best that you leave before I decide to cause a scene." She took a step toward him, "If I ever hear that you have talked about my daughter like she is an object again, I will personally see to it that you yourself are treated as an object. A very abused object. I have a friend who is thinking about taking up kick boxing and needs a punching bag. He's not too worried about going to prison either."

Finn looked at Rory who didn't look surprised in the least by her mom's speech. Finn thought it was safe to assume that Rory told her mom about what Logan said at his birthday party.

Logan opened his mouth to speak, but immediately closed it when the two mothers in front of him each gave him an evil eye. Without another word Logan made his way back to the main party.

When he was completely out of sight, Finn's mother spoke up, "The nerve of that boy! Showing up here like he didn't insult the hostess' granddaughter." She looked at Rory, "Don't you worry about him, hun, he's just a pathetic Huntzberger." She turned to Lorelai, "I never have liked that family. Oh, I have to tell you about the time Shira…"

The two women walked off together, laughing at the gossip Amelia was sharing.

Finned looked at Rory again, "Wow, tonight just gets more and more interesting." He nodded his head towards their mothers, "Do you think we will ever be able to pull those two apart?"

Rory laughed, "It's doubtful. They are getting along a little too well."

"Well, it's a good thing they showed up when they did," Finn said.

Rory turned to fully face him. "Really, why is that?"

"Because I've known Logan for a while, and I can tell when he's looking for a fight. He wanted to rile me or you up so that I would engage him." He lifted his hand to cup her cheek. "I'm not about to stand by and let him insult you."

Rory's cheeks grew pink. "Finn, I…I don't exactly know what's going on between us right now, but…but I'd really like it to continue."

Finn felt his heart flutter underneath his shirt. "You would?"

She smiled shyly, "Yeah. So at the risk of sounding very high school, would you be my boyfriend?"

Another flutter, "I would love to."

Rory smiled, wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him into a kiss.


	13. Dinner With the Morgans

**AN: I know, I am a bad bad updater. I have taken way too long to post this new chapter. I hope this longer than usual chapter will make up for the delay.**

The winter break was moving at an unnaturally slow speed. Finn had never wanted to return to school so badly. Both his sisters had decided to return to the manor for the holidays and had been a nonstop annoyance. When they weren't boasting about their successful lives, they were incessantly talking about the spring wedding that Bella was having.

To make matters worse, Bella's fiancé, Darrell or David or whatever, had tagged along and it was insisted that the bloke stay in the room with Finn for the duration of his stay. Finn couldn't understand why they had to room together seeing as the manor had plenty of spare rooms; but his mother had asked him to do this, so he did. He was such a mama's boy at times.

Just one day into the break, when Camila decided it was her business to pester him about his future plans for his life, Finn had been so tempted to go back to his campus apartment instead of staying at home; but the prospect of dealing with Logan sooner than he had to, was not appealing.

It had turned out that the bloke who was to marry Bella was actually named Derrick Troust. He wasn't a bad guy; in fact Finn couldn't figure out how a decent bloke like this managed to get involved with a troll like Bella.

"Seriously dude, your sister is not _that_ bad." Derrick had defended several times.

Finn would always laugh in reply, "You haven't known her long enough, mate. As much as I wouldn't mind calling you my brother in-law, I do not wish you to be Bella's husband. She plays a sweet little girl well, but just wait beware the day you disagree with her."

Today they had retreated to Finn's room since the entire downstairs had been overtaken by wedding plans and samples. Neither of them knew a thing about colors or floral arrangements, and every time they were asked their opinion they were berated for getting the answer wrong.

Instead they had been discussing the upcoming New Year's Eve party that his family was planning for the weekend. Around the wedding junk that littered just about every table on the main floor, Finn's mother was also planning the event of the year. New Year's was his mother's favorite time; she loved to go all out. Morgan New Year's Eve parties were legend in this area, and were one of the must attend events of the year; the guest list usually numbered near 300.

"Mate, I'm serious, there will be at least 4 open bars throughout the manor and gardens. My mother doesn't mess around when it comes to her drink."

Derrick laughed, "Dude, your mother is just asking for us to get wasted if she has _that_ many bars. Your sister hates how much I can drink."

"My sister hates everything. Bella is one of the most self-righteous people I know. She will scold anyone for doing something she believes to be immoral. She once lectured our priest one the poor choices he was making when it came to his diet." The two of them busted out in laughter, "Trust me, mate, my mother does not care if you love to drink, as long as you don't make a scene. One time, one of my father's business associates got a little too pissed back in during the Y2K party, and he ended up shouting about the world ending and how we were all doomed. He even snatched the mic away from the band to tell everyone how they were all going to Hell. Since then neither he nor his family have been invited to another party."

Derrick laughed, "Note to self, don't become a blubbering idiot."

Finn nodded, "Live by that philosophy and you will succeed at whatever you do. He will you pass the pretzels please."

The two of them had decided to watch an array of action films to pass the time. Finn was currently sitting on the floor in his oversized beanbag chair, while Darrick occupied his 1970's inspired pod chair. Finn's room was as wild and colorful as his wardrobe usually was.

He was never one to match. His room contained bits of furniture and decorations inspired from different decades. Some of his favorite pieces were his 80's rubrics cube chair (which was completely uncomfortable, but cool-looking as hell) and his original 1963 lava lamp. The Lava lamp had originally belonged to his uncle Matt on his mother's side. He had given it to Finn when he turned 15. Looking back on it, his uncle was probably the reason he grew a love for wild colors and unique items. His bed, though, was probably his most favorite; after a year of begging, Finn had convinced his mom to get him a circular bed. His mom had been so reluctant to get the bed because it would mean she would have to get custom made bedding just for him; but of course him being her only son, and the most relatable and tolerable child she had, she got him an array of colorful bedding sets.

Some hours later there was a knock on the door that forced them to pause their movie at an incredibly intense fight scene between Dalton and Jimmy. Amelia poked her head in a large smile covered her face. "Finn, you have a visitor."

He wondered who the visitor was, and why they had his mother smiling like a loon. "Send them in."

His mother's head moved out of view and was replaced by Rory.

Finn was on his feet pulling her into a hug. "Rory, luv, what are you doing here?" He wanted to kiss her, but he didn't know how she felt about kissing in front of other people; besides his mom was still in the room, and he definitely did not want to give her any reason to widen her already large smile.

She surprised him, however, when she gave him a light kiss on the lips. "I was visiting my grandparents and I wanted to see you." A smile played on her lips.

"Well, I am the luckiest guy or what?" He led her to the couch in the middle of the room. "But how did you know where I live, and what is so funny?" He asked when he saw that she was holding back her laughter.

It took her a moment to compose herself enough to talk. "I haven't seen an inflatable couch in years, where did you get it? And I asked looked your address up in the club directory."

"Hey don't hate on the couch. I've had it since I was 16. I always liked the idea of being able to lift a couch." He heard Derrick chuckle behind him. "Oh Rory, this is Derrick. He is the oh-so lucky bloke that gets to marry my dear sister Bella. Derrick this is the beautifully amazing woman I was telling you about." A blush covered Rory's face as she got up to shake Derrick's hand.

A smile broke out on his mother's face signaling that she had an idea. "Rory, dear, would you care to join us for dinner? Franco makes the best roasted lamb."

"I would love to, Mrs. Morgan, but today is Friday and I usually have Friday night dinner at my grandparent's."

Amelia nodded, "Yes, that is understandable; and please call me Amelia." She placed her hand on her cheek as if she was going through her options. "How about I call them and formally ask if you could join? I know Emily is all about formality."

Rory looked between Finn and his mother. "I don't see the harm in asking. They usually like the idea of me hanging out with fellow club members."

* * *

Emily and Richard had been more than willing to lose their granddaughters company for the evening so that she could have dinner with Finn and his family. With Rory added to the mix the dining room table was seated to near max capacity.

Finn's granddad sat at the head of the table with his Nana in the seat to his right. Finn had Rory sit in between him and Nana; Nana was the least threatening person here other than his mom. His father sat at the end of the table while his mom sat opposite him. Next to his mom were Cami, Bella, and Derrick.

The conversation had started out innocuous; lighthearted talk about school, work, and the upcoming nuptials. Finn had almost thought the evening would go off without a hitch; but of course, leave it to his sisters to completely ruin the night.

His granddad and Nana had already retired to their room and the dinner plates were being cleared off the table when Cami opened her mouth, "So Rory, what attracted you to our dear Finn here?"

Finn's gaze lifted from his plate to his sister. No one would know just by looking her, you had to really know Cami to know her looks, but there was a sinister sort of look in her eyes.

Rory glanced at Finn before looking back at Cami, her smile unfaltering. "Well Camila, Finn has this amazing ability to make me smile, even when I am upset with him."

Finn smiled, knowing that she was referring to the classroom prank they had played on her at the beginning of the term. He was also smiling because Rory had used Cami's full name; he had told her how his sisters hated to be called by their full names.

"Finn has never really brought a girl home before has he?" Bella chimed in. "What do you think Cami, the last girl he brought home was that beast of a girl, oh what was her name?"

Cami held her hands up, "Don't look at me; I only knew her as beast and the Swiss roll hoe."

"She _was_ a pig wasn't she?" Bella laughed.

"Camila, Isabella that is enough," Amelia's voice rang throughout the room and the two girls fell silent.

Finn's fists were clenched so tightly it was almost painful, but he didn't really care at that moment.

Cami leaned forward, "Did dear Finny tell you how his mental case of an ex-girlfriend couldn't handle life so she tried to off herself?"

"Camila enough!"

Cami sat back in her chair. "It's too bad she didn't succeed, could have saved enough food to feed a third world nation."

Finn was on his feet. "You're such a fucking bitch Cami," his tone was dripping with 22 years of hate. "Why don't you do everyone in this room a favor and slice your own wrists right now."

"Phineas Robert Morgan III, you will not speak to your sister in such a manner," his father boomed in a stern voice.

Finn turned to the man. He was going to explode; he was seconds away from flipping the entire table. He needed to get the fuck away before his anger got the best of him. Without another word he turned and left, his father's angry protests growing quieter the farther he got from the room.

When he got back to his room he collapsed backwards on his bed. It took a while but after many shaky breaths his nerves finally calmed down and he no longer felt the threat of tears.

As he sat up he realized he wasn't alone in room. Rory was standing hesitantly at the door. His heart immediately dropped in his chest. How could he be so stupid to have left her down there with those vultures?

Before he could get off the bed she was already making her way to him. He stood and she wrapped her arms around him. He felt his breath hitch as she pressed her face into his chest. He folded his arms around her and held her firmly against him; his face was pressed to the top of her head as he thought of how he would love stay like this forever.

 **AN: I hope I didn't catch y'all too much by surprise with that tone change. There will be some (a lot) of drama coming up in the future. We will also get to see how Rory helps Finn through some of his demons. And what happened in high school that caused Finn to stop drinking away his life.  
Please leave your reviews for me. I would love to know how y'all like the story so far.**


	14. Escape to Luke's

**AN: So I had to break this chapter up because it was getting really long. Don't fret though, I will not make y'all wait too long for the next chapter. I'm already working on the 15th chapter. This chapter is pretty much to perk up the spirits from the last chapter and to set up the next one. I know things are moving slow right now, but after the next chapter things will pick up again.**

 **On a side note I over looked the time line and the days. In 2004, when Rory was a sophomore, New Years Eve was on a Friday, not a Saturday; so for the sake of my story we'll just pretend that New Years Eve was on a Saturday. I'll fix the date later in the story.**

 **As usual let me know what you think.**

Finn and Rory walk out of the large house, hand in hand, into the large garden in the backyard. Usually there were hundreds of flowers, but the winter always killed them off. Right now flowers were the furthest thing from Finn's mind. Right now all he could think about was how he needed to get away; how he needed to be somewhere his psychotic family was not.

As they walked from the backyard around to the front, Rory took the lead and led him to her car. "Get in," she said softly. He wasn't about to argue about leaving this place.

He slid into the passenger seat and a moment later she was in the driver seat and pulling out of the driveway. He didn't know where they were going, but he didn't care. He was happy to just be with Rory.

Rory had switched on the radio and they were now listening to some pop song station. He didn't mind; in fact he found it cute how Rory knew all the lyrics to the songs that had played so far. He felt his mood lighten with each song that played. Soon his entire attention was on his beautiful girlfriend. He couldn't help but laugh when she started to dance in her seat.

"May I ask what is so funny, Mr. Morgan?" She tried to ask in a stern voice, but ended up cracking a huge smile.

"Not funny; cute. You're cute when you are being silly." He returned her smile.

"I like it when you smile."

His smile widened, "And why is that?"

"Well, I like your smile. It makes me happy." The pink in her cheeks were noticeable in the light of the setting sun.

Finn made a mental note to smile more around her. If his smile made her happy, then he would smile all day every day. He looked at the time on the dash clock and noted that it was only 6:00pm. It felt so much later than that. He noticed that they were no longer in Hartford, but did not recognize where exactly they were. "So, where are you kidnapping me to?"

She turned off the radio, making the conversation easier to be had. "We are going to Stars Hollow. I figured you needed to get some distance for a little while."

Finn felt a tinge of excitement flicker in him. He had been interested in seeing Rory's home town since she had told him all about it. All Finn had ever known was the society life. Even in Australia, the only people his family hung around were snooty, stuck-up people like the Huntzbergers. Listening to Rory talk about the wild personalities of Stars Hollow made him envious of her less complicated upbringing.

Rory had never had to deal with the constant judgement that society families dealt with. Finn could remember when he started with the wrong fork at a benefit gala when he was 12 and his mother was brutally judged for her child's 'lack of proper etiquette'. Of course his mother never really cared about what other people thought, but he had still felt bad.

When Finn spoke he tried to tone down the excitement in his voice. "So what are we going to do in the lovely town of Stars Hollow?"

"Well, we're going to go see the queen of cheering up. My mom is probably getting ready to leave her inn here in an hour, so we'll meet up with her at Luke's."

There was another familiar name. Rory had told Finn all about Luke and his namesake diner. Besides the inn her mother had first worked at Rory had said she grew up at Luke's diner. According to Rory, Luke's had the best coffee and some of the best food in town.

Another 10 minutes passed and they were entering the town. White Christmas lights were draped all over the place. The was a gazebo in the middle of a park that currently had several people moving around it setting up for some sort of gathering.

Rory pulled the car over to the side of the road and turned the engine off. "Come on, we can walk from here."

Finn got out of the car and Rory moved to stand by him as he stared at the commotion across the street. There was a tall skinning guy walking around shouting orders at people. From the looks of things, no one was listening to him, but he continued on as if everyone was complying.

Finn turned to Rory, "So what's going on over there?"

Rory looked in the direction Finn was. "Oh, that's Kirk. He thinks he's in charge of the party set up, but truthfully he has no responsibility in it at all."

Finn remembered some of the stories Rory had told him about Kirk. He was an interesting fellow who still lived with his mother and had worked just about every job in town. "So what's the party for?"

"The town's first ever town-wide New Year's party." She wrapped her arm around his and tugged him in the direction she wanted him to walk. "Taylor Doose thought it would be _wonderful_ if the town got together and rung in the New Year together. So the whole town is taking part in making it a big thing. Sookie and Luke are going to provide all the food, Lane's band is going to preform, and Miss Patty and Babette and in charge of decorating. My mom is even making fun hats for everyone to wear."

"That sounds like it's going to be fun." Finn felt a pang of jealousy; all he had to look forward to tomorrow night was a bunch of judgmental stares and his wicked witch sisters.

"You should come," Rory suddenly said. By the look on her face Finn couldn't tell if she meant to ask him, or if she was just trying to be nice. He didn't know if she was ready to introduce him to her whole town just yet.

Before he got the chance to inquire about it, they turned to enter the door labeled 'Luke's'. Once inside Finn immediately saw Lorelai. She was sitting at the counter, with an incredibly large cup of coffee in her hands, talking to the man behind the counter. If memory served him correct, and the backwards baseball cap told him anything, this was Luke.

In their many library meetings Rory had told him all about how Luke was pretty much her Father. He had been there when her birth father hadn't, and had always made he feel loved.

She had also told him how her mom and Luke had dated, but broken up because of her grandmothers meddling. Finn wasn't the best at judging situations, but he could definitely see the tension between these two.

Finn felt Rory release his arm, but then felt her fingers lace through his. He tried to control the smile on his face to look natural and not like a kid that has free reign in a candy store. The two of them made their way over to the counter.

Luke was the first to spot them. "Rory, Coffee?"

"Please. Hi mom, you remember Finn?" Rory took the stool next to her mother.

Finn didn't know if he should shake Lorelai's hand, hug her, or just nod a friendly hello. He decided it was just best to nod and smile. A hug was too friendly for someone you had only met twice, and a handshake was too formal for your girlfriend's mother.

"Finn," Lorelai practically shouted. "Come sit." She patted the stool on the other side of her. "How is Amelia? I meant to talk to her today, but all the town planning has just kept me so busy. I need to find out if she is still good for the 13th. We have been trying to get together for the past week." She was talking a mile a minute. "Are you ready for school to start back up? I think Rory has a countdown calendar in her room. That girl has always loved school."

"Mom!" Rory interjected. "Slow it down. Finn has not been around you much. You have to give people the chance to adjust to your speed."

Lorelai laughed. "I'm sorry, Finn. Let's start with, how are you doing?"

Finn smiled, "I'm well, and yourself?"

"Well, I'd be much better if Luke would give me my second cup of coffee." She raised her voice on the last half of her sentence.

Luke appeared back at the counter. "Don't blame me when you die from caffeine overdose." Finn could tell that there was no real intent in his words.

From the look of it this was an ongoing thing they had. Luke's gaze shifted from Lorelai and landed on Finn. He knew exactly what this was; it was the 'dad stare'. Luke had seen Rory holding Finn's hand and wanted to know who this guy was.

Finn offered his hand, "Pardon my manners. I'm Finn Morgan."

Luke took the offered hand in a firm, almost tight, hold. It didn't bother Finn. He knew this was what fathers, or father figures, did. They were protective, instinctual, and above all easily pissed off when it came to anything dealing with their little girls.

During the handshake silent conversation passed between the two men.

 _Don't you even think about breaking her heart._

 _Wouldn't dream of it._

 _Good, then we don't have a problem._

 _Not at all._

After a moment Luke released Finns hand and resumed his casual look. When they turned their attention back to the ladies they found that they had been discussing the New Year's Eve party that was happening tomorrow.

"I know they are doing a lot of their own songs, but they are also planning on doing some covers. They have three sets planned out and in between they are going to have a DJ playing music so that they can enjoy the party." Finn caught on that they were talking about Rory's best friend's band.

"Is Paris coming?" Lorelai asked.

Rory shrugged, "I invited her. She said as long as she in in the country. Her parents are in are vacationing in France, and she says that she might join them this time."

"What about you handsome?" Lorelai turned her attention to Finn. "Are you coming to the party?"

"I would absolutely love to. But my mother has been planning her party for the last 6 months. If I'm not at it those DAR hags are sure to say something."

"Oh shoot!" Lorelai pounded her fist on the counter. "She invited me to that. I have been so wrapped up with the Inn and the town's party that I completely forgot."

"She'll understand if you can't make it," Finn said, trying to sound reassuring. "She knows that you two don't really care for that crowd anyway. She knows that _I_ don't really care for that crowd, but as her son I must make an appearance."

"I have an Idea," Rory spoke up. "Why don't we all go to your mom's party first, but ditch it early and come here for the remainder of the evening?"

Finn nodded, "That could actually work. My mother usually lets me retire to my room before midnight even hits. I doubt she'll care if I leave with my girlfriend and her new best friend."

"It's a plan then," Lorelai smiled.

Finn was feeling better than he had an hour ago. In fact he was now looking forward to tomorrow night, regardless of the fact that he would have to deal with his sisters when he got home.


	15. New Year's Eve

**AN: Told y'all I wouldn't make y'all wait. Please let me know what y'all think.**

 **I need some ideas. I know I want some Christopher drama, but I would like to see what y'all think should happen. How does he find out his daughter is with a former society player. Leave it in the comments or PM me.**

It wasn't even an hour into the party and already 23 ladies had asked Finn to dance. It didn't matter to them that he had been walking around the whole time with Rory on his arm.

She looked perfect tonight. She was wearing a blue and silver knee-length dress that hugged her curves perfectly. Her hair was curled and pinned half up with glittery rose-shaped pins. Lorelai also looked beautiful in her dark, blue below the knee dress with a silver belt across her waist. Finn wondered if she and his mom had worked out last minute outfit coordination, because his mom was wearing a silver dress of a similar length with a dark blue silk scarf around her neck.

The night had been going smoothly so far. Finn had been moving through the crowd of guest keeping an eye out for his sisters. He had managed to avoid them since returning home last night, but he knew there was only so long that manage that.

When Rory and Lorelai arrived that night they had told his mother what the plan was straight away. Thankfully she was okay with this plan and admitted to being jealous that she couldn't escape too.

Lorelai had gone off with his mother while Rory immediately locked herself to his arm. They had been maneuvering through the guests in the house and garden talking about an array of topics. Right now they were discussing Finn's Uncle Matt and his travels.

"He liked it here less than my mom did. I'm surprised he made it through high school." Finn snagged two glasses of champagne off a passing tray and handed one to Rory.

"So where is he now?" She asked as she accepted the glass.

Finn thought for a moment. It was hard to keep up with where Uncle Matt was. He'd send postcards, but by the time they reached Hartford he was already on his way to his next destination. He and already backpacked through Europe and Asia. He was currently in South America. "The last postcard I received was from Peru, but he could be anywhere by now."

An hour into the party and the night seemed to be going perfectly; but of course, when it came to the Morgan family, nothing could be perfect. Finn and Rory had been swaying together by the front entrance to a beautiful slow song when the drama hit.

"You're a selfish bitch is what you are!" They heard someone yelling from the second floor of the house. "I cannot believe I was fooled into believing you were a kind and loving person."

From the main staircase Finn could see Derrick storming away from a much disheveled Bella. Her hair was falling out of her bun and her dress was completely wrinkled.

"Derrick please, you misunderstood the whole thing." Bella's voice was horse, probably from crying and arguing at the same time. Upon closer inspection Finn could see mascara lines trailing down her cheeks. He almost felt sorry for her; almost.

As they made their way through the crowd Bella's eyes found Finn. "You ass hole!" She approached Finn with a hateful look in her eye. "You just couldn't stand to see me happy could you? You are so selfish you had to ruin the one good thing I have ever had." She raised her hand to slap him. He braced himself for impact, but it never connected with is face.

That is when he noticed that Derrick had grabbed her wrist, "Don't be such an idiot Bella. I'm not leaving you because of anything Finn said. It was your venomous mouth that got us here." He released her hand and turned to leave.

She grabbed his jacket, "Please, Derrick, please don't leave. I swear, I'm not like that usually. It's just that Finn gets me all riled up and I don't know what I'm saying."

Derrick looked at her like she was a piece of chewed gum that he accidently touched underneath his desk. He looked like he had a lot he wanted to say, and most of it was probably not very nice. Instead he pulled Bella's hand off his jacket and turned and walked away.

The scene had earned a lot of attention. The people surrounding them had stopped dancing, talking, even the orchestra had stopped playing. From the main room Finn could see his mother and father making their way towards him.

"Finn for the love of God, what have you said to upset your sister this time?" His father's voice was gruff and full of irritation.

At that moment Finn lost it. "Are you fucking kidding me?" he shouted. "Why must you always assume that it is I who upsets her? Is it really that impossible for you to see Bella as she really is? A fucking bitch."

"Finn, language," his mother spoke sternly, but softly at the same time.

"I am sorry mother, but I cannot put up with him constantly acting like Cami and Bella can do no wrong." He turned to his sisters. Cami was hugging an inconsolable Bella. "I have no clue what I did to make you two treat me the way that you do, but I'm done. I'm done letting you walk all over me, and I'm done with you two acting like God's gifts to this family."

Before any of his family could respond he grabbed Rory's hand and turned to leave. When they got out on the porch they found Derrick pacing and ranting to himself. He looked how Finn felt.

"Hey Derrick."

Derrick jumped at Finn's words. "Holy Hell you scared me. Didn't anyone ever teach you not to sneak up on someone when they're fuming?"

Finn managed a chuckle, "No, I'm afraid I missed that lesson in primary school." He looked from Derrick to Rory. "Hey luv, I'm really sorry you had to witness my family's dysfunction, again."

She reached up and placed her hand on his cheek, her thumb brushed lightly over his skin. "Please don't apologize for something that is obviously not your fault." She stood on her toes and gave him a soft kiss.

The front door swung open at that moment, revealing a very agitated Lorelai. "It's time we blew this Popsicle stand." She looked at Rory and Finn, "You two have 5 minutes or I leave you here," and with that she headed towards the valet.

"We should take that as a serious threat," Rory said with a smile. "She doesn't like to wait."

The two of them turned to leave when Finn stopped. "Hey Derrick, I know you don't want to stay here. Why don't you come with us, mate?"

Derrick didn't hesitate. The four of them piled into the Jeep and took off.

The Stars Hollow Fist Annual New Year's Bash was in full swing by the time the four of them got there. Derrick had calmed down immensely and Finn was feeling excited. This would be his first ever non-society, non-college party. A town full of people who knew each other, and like each other, well for the most part, coming together to have fun.

Luckily Finn had packed an overnight bag so he had a spare set of clothes for both himself and Derrick. Lorelai had offered him a room at her Inn so he didn't have to go home so late, but now he was considering staying away until school started back up. He was in no mood to deal with his family.

Lorelai had gone off to find Luke for some coffee. "I won't make it through this without at least two cups," she had said as she took off.

That left Finn with Derrick and Rory. That was until Finn saw a familiar face in the crowd.

"Paris!" Rory shouted. "What are you doing here? I thought you were going out of town."

Paris had her signature scowl etched on her face. "I thought I was, until I found out that my father canceled my ticket. I unfortunately didn't find this out until I was at that airport."

"Awe, Paris I'm sorry. Why did he cancel it?"

"I wish I knew. Would you mind letting me crash at your place? I really don't want to be on the road tonight. On average 140 people are killed in DUI related accidents on New Year's."

Rory smiled, "Of course you can stay at my place. Oh, Paris, you remember my boyfriend, Finn?"

Paris gave Finn a once over, "Ah yes, the foreign boy."

Rory continued, "And this is Derrick, oh I'm sorry I didn't catch your last name."

Derrick smiled and offered his hand to Paris. "Derrick Troust. Nice to meet you Paris."

Finn thought for a moment that Paris looked a little flustered. He stifled a laugh. "So why do we join the party?"

The four of them moved around together for a while until Darrick and Paris broke off. They had been debating culture of rap music and if it was indeed destroying the youth of today.

Finn pulled Rory to a less crowded area. He wrapped his arms around her and pulled her close. He didn't say anything right away; he just rested his chin on top of her head.

"What are you thinking about?" she asked him after a while.

He pulled back to look in her eyes. "I'm thinking about how lucky I am to have such an amazing girl in my crazy life." He leaned down and kissed her.

"He pulled back, a smile covered her face. "Hey, we're supposed to wait until midnight."

He pouted playfully, "You mean you are going to deprive me of the best and sweetest lips for another hour?"

"Sorry, but yes," She said. "It just means that you that you'll enjoy the midnight kiss more."

Finn sighed dramatically. "Fine," he said with a smile.

They continue to walk around the crowd. Finn got to meet any of the people that Rory had told him about. His favorites, by far, were Miss Patty and Babette. The two boisterous ladies had commented on how good looking he was; just the ego boost he needed.

"Rory, how did you land such a handsome man?" Babette asked.

"An Australian man at that," Miss Patty added then looked at him, "I always wanted an Australian husband. If you ever feel the need to be with a more _experienced_ woman, call me."

The two ladies continued on their way. Rory let out the laugh she had been holding in.

"Are they always like that?" Finn asked feeling almost violated.

"You're lucky that Miss Patty didn't try to squeeze your butt. She's known for her outrageousness."

About ten minutes until midnight Finn and Rory joined Paris, Derrick, Lorelai, Luke, Sookie, Jackson, and Lane on the steps of the gazebo. They were all getting ready to watch the firework show that Taylor Doose had arranged.

As Finn was talking to Derrick and Luke, he overheard the conversation between Rory and Paris.

"I know he's younger than the guys I usually go for, but at least I won't have to worry about having another unfortunate incident like I had with Asher."

"What about Doyle? I thought you had a thing for him?"

"That is just not going to work out. Doyle is nice, but I don't want a doormat. I need a man."

"You know that he is technically still engaged right?"

"Yeah, but he already told me how she's not who he thought she was. Apparently she paraded around like she was all sweet and caring, but he witnessed some seriously messed up side to her."

"Yeah, I was there."

"You see. So I'll bide my time and when he's ready, I'll be there."

Finn Smiled at the conversation. He knew that after yesterday and tonight, there was little to no chance that Derrick would go on to marry his sister. He knew he should feel some sense of family loyalty, but when it came to his sisters, he didn't care. After these last two days he was more concered with how Derrick was feeling at the moment. The thought of him being with Paris though was kind of amusing. She was an untamable force to be reckoned with.

He leaned over to Derrick who had been talking to Luke about family recipes. "Hey, I think you have gained yourself an admirer."

Derrick looked around Finn at Paris. "Really?" He sounded intrigued but didn't say anything else.

Finn didn't get a chance to inquire further as the crowd started to count down. He made his way to Rory's side, wrapped his arm around her and joined, "5, 4, 3, 2, 1!"

Everyone cheered. Confetti and streamers filled the air. Finn turned and pulled Rory against his body. He leaned down and captured her lips in his. The kiss started out gentle and innocent, but grew into something fiercer. Finn let his body melt into hers. He felt all of his frustration from the last couple of days evaporate. He felt her fingers thread through his hair urging him closer even though it was physically impossible.

Finally, when they both needed air, their lips separated. Finn closed his eyes and rested his forehead against hers. "Wow," he said breathlessly.

"Told you you'd love it more," Rory replied equally out of breath.

Both of them were oblivious to the small audience that had been watching them.

 **Did you love it?**


	16. The First Day

**AN: I know that this update is long overdue. All I can say is that I am very sorry I made you all wait so long. I had a moment where I didn't know where the story was going to go from here, but after a little bit of thinking I finally have a definite direction that I wanted to go. This chapter is mainly a filler chapter to jump us from point A to point B, but after the next chapter will see things speed up a little bit more.**

 **One of the commenters, Droolia, asked about Finn's sisters and why they are the way they are to him. I figured I wouldn't be able to work it into the story as well as just give you the back story on it all.**

* * *

 **Cami and Bella were only children for five years. Their father doted on them and their mother had nobody else to give attention to other than them. Cami and Bella built a bond with their father and were happy being spoiled by him, and he was happy spoiling them. Amelia just wanted a son and had to beg her husband for one more child. To her delight she was blessed with Finn. When Finn came along he took a lot of attention away from them. This didn't sit well with them and subconsciously this is the reason why they have hated him his whole life. Phineas tried to bond with his son, but unfortunately Finn was a 'mommy's boy' and would not let Phineas in. So Phineas continued to give his attention to his daughters who were always ready to please him. Over the time family became separate in a way. The girls were always on their father side and Finn was always on his mother's and vice versa.**

 **I hope that this helps with the understanding of Finn's relationship with his sisters and his father.**

* * *

Finn woke up on his first day of 2005 feeling better than he had in a very long time. Sitting up he examined his surroundings. He was in a medium-size room modestly decorated with various items that made the room seem more homey.

Lorelai had allowed him and Derrick to stay at the Dragonfly Inn. Lucky for them one of the two rooms with separate beds was free. Finn looked over at the other bed and found it empty. Derrick must be at breakfast. A glance at his watch told him he had 10 minutes before he would be out of luck for breakfast.

Less than five minutes later Finn was downstairs in the dining area. He managed to snag the last bit of bacon, a healthy portion of eggs, and a couple pieces of toast. He knew that this wouldn't hold him long, his metabolism was on the faster side, but it would hold him until he could get somewhere for a larger meal.

One glance around the room told him that Derrick wasn't there. This wasn't surprising.

After everything that had gone on last night, Derrick was probably out trying to clear his head.

Finn cleaned his plate of all his food, went back up to the room to shower and dress, and headed out to take a walk of his own.

It was cold outside, but the bite of the low temp was lessened by the brightly shining sun. While deciding which way to go, Finn spotted Derrick on a bench in front of the Inn. He was on the phone arguing with someone. Finn would be willing to bet that is was Bella.

He would have won.

As he approached the bench, he caught Derrick's side of the conversation.

"No…No…Because I don't have to…Not really…Keep it…Bella, honestly, I don't care. Keep the ring, keep the gifts, I don't want them…Okay, I'm hanging up now."

When he hung up the phone he let out a sigh.

Finn took a seat next to him. "That bad, mate?"

Derrick leaned forward and cradled his face in his hands. "That was the tail end of what I have been dealing with all morning. Turns out your sister is exactly as you described her."

Finn let out a short laugh, "What, you thought I was exaggerating?"

Derrick shook his head, "I thought you two just had some bad blood. You know how some siblings are. Turns out, after we left, Bella burned all my belongings. Good thing I have my wallet and phone here with me."

"Could have been worse," Finn stated simply.

Derrick scoffed, "Yeah, how?"

"Had she known where you were last night, she would have tried to kill you in your sleep. Just be glad that Bella doesn't know how to track credit card usage."

Derrick didn't reply.

They stayed quiet for a long time before Finn stood up from the bench. "Hey let's take a walk into town. I know a great diner, and I bet if we hang around long enough, we'll run into some beautiful ladies."

A thirty-minute walk later, they found themselves at Luke's diner with plates full of food. Derrick and Luke had picked up where they left off on the culinary discussion from the night before. Finn pulled out his phone to call Rory, but before he got the chance to start dialing he spotted her and her mom through the window.

Seconds later Lorelai, Rory, and Paris were sitting at the counter on the other side of Finn. Paris and Rory were discussing what he assumed to be dorm arrangements for when they got back to Yale.

"I just think it is stupid to rearrange our entire dorm because you read one book about Feng Shui." Rory sounded exasperated, as she often did when arguing with Paris. "And since when do you believe in such stuff?" She leaned towards Finn and gave him a quick kiss and then turned her attention back to Paris.

"Feng Shui has been around for over a thousand years. It is just a fact that if you arrange your furniture a certain way in your room there will be a better flow of movement and therefore a better flow energy."

Rory let out a sigh of defeat. "Fine you can rearrange your room and the common room all you want just leave _my_ room alone."

Paris nodded in agreement. "Hey, can you take me to take porcelain shop? I want to see if they had something I could give to Consuela for her birthday."

Finn wondered who Consuela was.

Rory turned to Finn, "I'll be right back." She gave him one more kiss and hopped off the bar stool.

When he turned back to Derrick he saw that both he and Luke were heading towards the back of the diner. No doubt to go over more cooking techniques. That had been all they had talked about last night and since they had arrived today.

Finn then realized that he was alone at the counter with Lorelai. He hadn't been nervous until she moved to sit right next to him and began talking in the most serious tone he had ever heard her use.

"Look Finn, I'm going to cut to the chase before Rory and Paris get back. I like you, and so does my daughter, in fact I haven't seen her this happy in a long time. However, I do hope that you are not just using her until somebody who interests you more comes along. I will not have my daughter's heart broken any more than it already has been. She deserves to be happy, and if you do anything, I mean _anything_ , to jeopardize her happiness you better be ready to leave the country and hide for the rest of your life."

Finn could appreciate what Lorelai was saying. He didn't want to hurt Rory. In fact he wanted to do everything in his power to prevent Rory from ever feeling an ounce of pain again. He turned to her and smiled, "I understand."

Lorelai returned his smile. "Good," she replied simply.

* * *

An hour later Finn and Rory finally managed to get away from the rest of the group. Paris had left for home, after getting Derrick's cell phone number, Derrick remained at the diner in Luke's company, while Lorelai, went to the Inn to check on a few things.

They walked through town side-by-side, fingers laced together. Finn couldn't think of a more perfect place to be on the first day of the new year than with his beautiful girlfriend in this lovely small town. Rory was showing Finn the parts of the town he hadn't yet seen, and telling him funny stories of what happened throughout her life at each location.

As they walked through the park for the second time, after visiting Patty's dance studio, Rory led Finn to the gazebo where they shared their New Year's Eve kiss.

The two of them took a seat on one of the benches. They stayed silent for a while. Finn was waiting for Roy to start talking, and he assumed she was waiting for him to start talking. He was enjoying the calm, comfortable silence between the two of them. It had been a long time since he had felt so at peace with everything around him. Even though he knew when he'd got home all hell would break loose.

After a few more moments of silence, Rory finally spoke. "Are you worried about going back home?" It was as if she was in his thoughts.

Finn knew she was talking about Bella. "I don't know. I know that my father my sisters are going to have a few choice words for me, but I hope my mother will be able to buffer enough of the anger out before I get there."

She let out a sigh, "It really sucks that your sisters are so horrible to you. Seeing them makes me glad that I'm an only child, well somewhat of an only child. I guess Gigi doesn't really count seeing as we didn't actually grow up together."

"That's how they've been my entire life," Finn said solemnly. "I really wish that I knew why they didn't like me so much. I'd hate to think it was just because of my existence."

Rory took Finn's other hand and laced it through her fingers. She laid her head upon his shoulder and they sat there in some more silence. Finn thought about everything that led up to this moment. Watching Logan fawn over her, wishing he could've got to her first, finally being the one to get her attention. He knew that there was a lot of drama in his life, but Rory was a bright shining beacon of happiness.

"I know what my mom talk to you at the diner when Paris and I weren't there," Rory said suddenly. "Don't let her scare you off. She's just worried about me after everything that happened with Jess and Dean over the years."

Finn released Rory's hands and stood up in front of her. He pulled her to her feet and looked her in the eyes. "Nothing anybody will ever say will deter me from wanting to be with you. I know it sounds crazy, but from the first moment I saw you, I have had this _need_ to get to know you. After getting to know you all I wanted to do was to be closer to you. No amount of threats, no amount of warnings from parents or anything else will make me want anything else but to be with you." When she didn't reply right away, he took a breath and continued, "I really hope everything I just said did not scare you away from wanting to be with me. I know it seems rather sudden to have these kind of feelings but, there's something about you that just draws me in."

Rory smiled and shook her head, "It is crazy, but I don't mind it. I'm really happy to be with you. You are possibly the sweetest guy, and the most interesting guy that I have ever met. I am really lucky that you wanted me out of all the girls that you could've chosen from."

"Who wouldn't want to be with an amazing girl like you? With you there are no other girls."

Rory smiled and wrapped her hands around the back of Finn's neck and pulled him closer to her. Finn leaned down and let his lips softly graze hers. There kiss was gentle, nothing like it was the night before. It was gentle and sweet. No rush, no hurriedness.


	17. Dinner and Rain

**AN: Okay, So I have a good reason as to why this took so long. This chapter contains a mild sex scene. It is not super graphic so that I can keep my current rating, but it is there. I'm still working on this type of writing so if that scene isn't great I am sorry. I worked really hard to make it flow nicely.**

 **Shout out to my girl Christine who corrected my grammar mistakes.**

 **I hope y'all like this. Please let me know what you think!**

* * *

 **February 3, 2005 (Thursday)**

It had been two months since New Year's. Finn was happily back at school, and had successfully avoided the wrath of his father and sisters. With help from his mother, he and Derrick were able to get to the house, get their stuff, and leave. They decided to take refuge at Finn's off campus apartment.

When they got there, Finn had found out that Logan had moved during the break. According to Colin, Logan didn't want to live with a 'backstabbing, girl thief'. Supposedly, he had talked his father into getting him his own apartment on the opposite side of the campus. That was fine with Finn. He had grown tired of Logan when he was talking about Rory as an object.

With little convincing, Finn was able to get Colin and Robert to agree to let Derrick crash in Logan's previous room until he could situate his own place. It turned out he had left his apartment to move in with Bella, since hers was bigger, and since the New Year's Eve party Derrick hadn't dared try to return. Luckily his office was only a 45 minute drive from the apartment. He was the same size as Finn, so he was able to borrow some clothes until he could buy new ones. He knew there was little chance that his stuff had survived the rage of Bella.

After a couple weeks Finn, Robert, and Colin offered Derrick the room permanently. They had the apartment for the next year and a half, and it would give him time to find a decent place. Finn also joked that living with them would give Derrick more access to a certain blonde.

Today was Thursday. Finn and Colin had just finished their final class of the day and were playing some video games with Derrick. He never worked late on Thursdays or Fridays, giving him the illusion of a 4 day weekend.

There was a knock on the door. Finn, knowing it was Rory, got up to answer it. When he opened the door he greeted his girlfriend with a playfully sensual kiss, letting his tongue dance with hers for a moment before separating.

"Hello to you too, Mr. Morgan," She said with a smile, her cheeks turning pink from the blush she got every time they kissed like that.

"Hey Gilmore," Colin said from the lounge chair, "have you come to dump Finn and give me a second chance? I'd love a kiss like _that_ from you."

Rory rested her hands over her heart, "Of course I have," she said with a smirk. "I can no longer deny my feelings for you Colin."

Colin laughed, "I think Finn has been rubbing off on you. I don't remember you ever being this outgoing or dramatic."

Rory entered the apartment and took a seat on the couch next to Derrick who was so focused on the video game he was playing he didn't notice her presence "No, what I think, is you _all_ have had a terrible influence on me, and have corrupted my innocence." A playful smile covered her face.

Finn sat down on her left side and laced his fingers with her's. "So what do you want to do tonight?" They had made it a habit do something every Thursday night as a group. This varied from watching movies to going out to eat to finding a bookstore to rummage around. Sometimes Robert, Stephanie, and Paris would join them.

"Anything is fine with me. Oh, Derrick, before I forget, Paris wanted to know if you two were still on for dinner tomorrow night."

He nodded as he set the controller on the coffee table, "I'll call her. I got the reservation all set at that new Italian restaurant."

"Oh yes," Colin said gleefully, "the first real date. I cannot believe that you are brave enough to take on Paris Geller."

Rory pointed her finger sternly at Colin, "Watch it McCrea, that's my friend and roommate you are talking about."

He crossed his arms over his chest. "I make no apologies. You know that she is a tough person to be around. Shit you lived with her."

"I'll admit that she has her moments, and even she knows it, but she also has the same needs that we all have. In fact I think her need for companionship is more prevalent seeing as her parents have never been there. She puts up a wall, but once you break through you'll find that there is so much more to her that you could have ever imagined." She turned to Derrick, "Don't be weak. If she gives you a tough time give it right back. She'll respect you more if you don't instantly cave to her bluntness."

"Thanks Rory. I'll keep that in mind. But I'm still taking things slow. I was engaged just a couple months ago."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, mate. We all know that you were engaged to the dragon that is unfortunately my sister." Finn stood and made his way to the liquor cabinet. "But you are free of her now. Time to celebrate. What I really think, is you and Paris need a steamy night _in._ " He wiggled his eyebrows suggestively.

He poured a drink for everyone and handed the glasses out. He hadn't been drinking nearly as much as he used to. Being with Rory he found no need to be sloshed to enjoy her company. "To Derrick and his new start," he said loudly as he raised his glass in the air.

Everyone followed his lead. "Here here!"

They ended up walking to the China Wall for dinner and then to Jimmy's Ice Cream Shoppe, a few blocks away, for dessert.

Colin and Derrick found the Game Stop a next to Jimmy's where they both became enthralled in some live demonstration of new gaming technology.

Finn and Rory decided to leave them there and head back to the apartment by themselves.

* * *

When they were about a block away, it started to rain. Nature decided to skip drizzle and go straight to down pour. They did their best to seek cover the rest of the way there, but they ended up getting soaked.

When they finally got inside, Finn turned on the heater and they both headed to his room.

Finn pulled two large towels from the bathroom cabinet and handed one to Rory. He then moved to his dresser and pulled out two pairs of sweat pants and two white t-shirts. He handed one set of clothes to Rory and then turned to go to the bathroom to change his own clothes.

Before he made it to the door he felt Rory's hand on his shoulder. "What, you too shy to change in front of me?" Her voice was quiet. "I think we should be able to change in front of each other."

He turned back towards her and with a smirk he removed his sweater along with his t-shirt and tossed them across the room. When he looked back at Rory she was staring at him with wide eyes. Most girls didn't realize that he was actually in pretty good shape. They all assumed that his loose clothing hid a less than firm form.

After a she snapped out of her staring trance, Rory got to work on her own clothing. She peeled her sweater off first, revealing a long sleeve light blue shirt that was pretty much see-through since it was wet. She grabbed the hem of her shirt and started to lift it, but Finn suddenly stopped her. He had a better idea.

He kissed her lips gently as he moved her hands away from her shirt. His lips moved from her lips to her jaw and slowly down to her neck. He worked his way across her throat, playfully nipping her skin as he went, to the other side of her neck. He smiled against her skin as he heard soft moans escape her lips.

He broke his contact with her and dropped to his knees; his head was level with her belly button. He grabbed her shirt and lifted it slowly. He kissed her skin as it was exposed, bringing himself back to his feet the higher he got. He lifted the shirt over her breast exposing a white lace bra. He felt a surge of excitement jolt through him as he saw that that piece of clothing was also see-through. He planted kisses on the top of each breast before finishing his task at hand.

He finally removed the shirt completely and tossed it across the room. He allowed his hands to roam the length on her torso as he went back to kissing her lips.

"Finn," Rory finally spoke.

"Yes luv?" His voice was heavy with lust.

She didn't say anything, but instead moved closer to him and ran her hands across his chest. His skin burned at her touch. His body reacted as she moved her hand down his stomach to the button on his jeans. She locked eyes with him as she undid his pants and then undid her own.

Once they were both in nothing but their underwear, Finn wrapped an arm around her and pulled her flush against his body. As he kissed her, he moved them towards the bed, turned to sit on it and pulled her down to straddle his lap.

His hands gripped her hips as his lips wandered from her lips, down her neck, over her collar bone, and to her left breast. He used his teeth to tug the thin material down, exposing her pink bud. Finn glided his tongue over it and felt it harden.

He gently bit the perky bud, causing Rory's hips to grind into his lap. He let out a growl as he moved to the other side and repeated his previous actions.

Rory's hands moved to unclasp her bra and it dropped to the floor without another thought.

Finn looked at her, "Do you know what you are doing to me right now?"

She answered his question with a grind of her hips and a mischievous smile.

His mouth moved back to her's, and in one quick motion he lifted Rory off of his lap and laid her on the bed, their lips never separating from the aggressive kiss. He positioned himself on top of her with his knee pressed firmly between her legs.

As they continued to kiss, her hands moved down to the last bit a sheer fabric she had on her body and started to pull it off.

It took every bit of Finn's strength to stop her from completing her task. "Rory," his breathing was labored, "I don't want to continue unless you are sure you want this." He knew he sounded stupid. No guy ever stopped a girl from having sex with them. He certainly had never done it before.

She didn't say anything, but instead continued to remove the garment and then wrapped her hands around his head and pulled him down to her lips.

He too removed his last article of clothing and then positioned himself between her legs.

Her big blue eyes connected with his. "Please, Finn, I need you." And that's all it took.

He pushed into her and reveled in the gasp that escaped her lips. Moving slowly at first, he enjoyed every second of being wrapped in her wet warmth. After a few delicious moments he began to speed up.

Rory's nails dug into his shoulders as she lifted her hips to match his thrusts. One of her hands through his hair and she pulled his lips to her.

He felt her tighten around him. "Oh god, Finn!" she practically screamed as her back arched off the bed, and her hands moved to grip the sheets.

His eyes rolled back as he felt her grow tighter around him. Her moans encouraged him to go faster and harder morphing the sounds coming from her into borderline screams.

As he let up a little, for fear of hurting her, she grabbed his shoulders and pressed her body closer to his. "Please, Finn, don't slow down." She was out of breath.

He smiled a wicked smile. "As you wish, luv."

He sat up and hooked his arms under her knees lifting her bottom off the bed, and continued to pump into her. After she came a couple more times, Finn was finally met with his own orgasm.

When he was completely spent he collapsed next to her and wrapped them both in the comforter, and pulled her close to him. After a few minutes her breathing began to deepen.

When he thought that she was asleep he kissed her head and whispered, "I love you, Rory Gilmore."

He settled his head back onto his pillow, and just as he started to drift he head a soft voice, "I love you too, Finn Morgan."


	18. Colin and Stephanie

**AN: I know I know! I'm super late. With the new year came the requirement to verify all the insurance in my office. I'm still no where close to being done, but I just had to get this chapter to y'all. I am hoping to post more frequently, but cannot make any solid promises. I just want everyone to know, I have not abandoned any of my stories.**

 **I would like to give a special thanks to Christine for catching my mistakes. She is super awesome, taking time out of her busy day to read over my stuff. I love her!  
** **As always I hope you all enjoy this chapter and get the chance to review it.**

* * *

 **February 4, 2005 (Friday)**

"Finn! Finn Morgan, open this door right now!" Finn heard a familiar voice outside his door. He sat up from the bed and rubbed his eyes and checked his bedside clock; it was 5am. As he stood from the bed, he quickly remembered that he was not wearing any clothes and neither was Rory who was, somehow, still asleep.

He grabbed the pair of sweatpants he set out the night before and pulled them on. He checked to make sure Rory was still covered and then went to his bedroom door. After unlocking it he yanked the door open. The familiar voice on the other side, as he expected, belonged to Stephanie. "Not that I don't love you, Steph, but why in the hell are you waking me up at this ungodly hour?" He made sure to keep his voice down so he didn't wake Rory up.

"It, uh, is that Rory, in your bed?" She was looking past Finn, "And is she _naked_? Finn Morgan you devil."

Finn pushed his friend into the common space shutting his bedroom door behind him. "Yes it is Rory. But what is the big deal, you have known that we are dating." He went to the kitchen and started to make some coffee.

"Well duh I knew you were dating, but you failed to share the news that you two were _active_." She moved to sit at the dining room table.

"Well you wouldn't know, because last night was our first night together." Finn took note of how excited Stephanie got. She was used to hearing about the guys' sex life, but not when it came to a serious relationship.

She pulled her knees to her chest and rested her feet on the chair. "I love you two together. You two are so cute You're always stealing quick glances at each other, and you never run out of stuff to talk about." Her look went from excited to sad as she spoke.

Finn knew that Stephanie longed to be in a committed relationship, but she hadn't found the 'right guy'. Every guy that she dated either turned out to be a scum bag or was intimidated by her independence. She didn't _need_ a guy to take care of her; she just wanted one of those sweet Hallmark relationships that were portrayed in every romantic movie she watched. He knew who she thought was the right guy for her.

He sat down across from her and handed her one of the cups of coffee he had made. "So, are you going to tell me why you came barging into my apartment and demanded I wake up?" He kept his tone as playful as possible. He didn't know how she was actually feeling at the moment, and didn't want say the wrong thing.

She didn't say anything at first. She just looked into her mug and swirled her coffee around. When she did finally speak her voice was soft. "I just, I needed a friend."

He reached out and placed a hand on her arm. "Steph, are you okay? Please tell me you're not,"

"No, I'm not," She said with a reassuring smile on her face.

The thing that just about no one knew about Stephanie was, that while she was brilliant, the stresses of school and her home life sometimes became too much for her. During her junior year of high school she had pick up some nasty habits of popping anxiety pills, cutting herself, and not eating. Finn and Colin were the only people who knew she did this, and had only found out when they saw her scars. They held her 'captive' in Colin's basement until she told them everything. They had worked really hard to get her to stop. Finn had even taken her to a teen help center to see a counselor. She had begged them not to involve her parents; her biggest fear was to disappoint them.

She had stopped all of it, but Finn knew that, with the pressures of law school, it was a daily struggle not to revert back to the way she was.

"Steph, you can tell me what is wrong."

She let out a long breath, "Colin is in Rosemary's bed right now." It was not secret that Stephanie was head over heels in love with Colin; well except to Colin. "You think that my roommate, and friend of three years, would have some boundaries. I mean, shit, I only have talked about how much I want to be with the man like every fucking time I see him with a new girl." She stood from her seat and started to pace in small circles. "And she and Juliet have asked me about him. They have given me advice on how to tell him that I like him."

Finn chuckled slightly, "Yeah, because lord only knows how he's been blind to it this whole time."

"Hey," She stopped in her tracks and pointedly looked at Finn, "I am not that obvious."

A snort escaped Finn's mouth. "I'm sorry luv, but you are. Anyone with two eyes could see that you are mad about him."

Stephanie put her hands on her hips, "Well, I have had to be a little more forward with him than I would with anyone else. I don't understand, a girl could just look at him and his interest would be peeked, but I have tried everything to get him to notice me as more than a friend and I get nothing." Her voice started to break, indicating that tears weren't far away.

"Steph, please calm down," Finn said as he got up from his seat and pulled her into his arms. "Colin is so not worth you getting so upset. He's nowhere near as devilishly handsome as me, and his personality lacks the intelligence and charisma that I have."

He heard Stephanie laugh into his shoulder. She pulled back from the hug and wiped her eyes of the nonexistent tears. "Well, too bad you are taken."

"Oh well, I don't know, maybe Rory wouldn't mind sharing," he said with a playful smirk.

She smacked him on the arm. "As much as I love you, I don't feel for you what I feel for Colin."

Finn feigned a hurt expression. "So you're saying that I am _not_ the guy of your dreams? My heart is broken." He wiped a stray tear that remained on her cheek. "So, tell me, how do you feel for Colin?" Finn was curious as to how she would describe her feelings. He sat back down as Stephanie started pacing again.

She took a moment to collect her thoughts. "I just…he's the only one, other than you, who truly knows me. And I think I'm the only girl who knows him. We've been through so much together. He was there for my lowest points and I for his. When I'm around him I feel so happy, and when I am not, I just want to be around him. I actually like his dirty jokes and unlike most girls, I don't mind that he is a bit messy. I know what he likes and what he doesn't like. I know how picky of an eater he is and I'm okay with that. I like how he knows when I'm sad or mad. His smile melts me, and all I want to do every time he laughs is grab his face and kiss him."

Stephanie had been so absorbed in her speech, and Finn in listening to it, that neither of them had notice the additional person in the apartment; that is, until he cleared his throat.

A horrified look spread across Stephanie's face as she slowly turned around to find Colin standing just 20ft away. "C-Co-Colin." That was all she seemed to be able to get out.

Finn thought about moving out of the room, but feared he'd ruin whatever was taking place here; and he really didn't want to miss this conversation.

Colin ran a hand through his hair. "Steph, I never,"

Stephanie interrupted him before he could get his sentence out. "Of course you never knew. You were always looking the other way."

Colin tried again, "Why didn't,"

"I tell you?" She finished for him. "I did everything but say it word for word. You just don't see me like that."

Colin's brow furrowed and a frown formed on his face. "Are you fucking stupid."

"Excuse me?" She asked incredulously.

"Stephanie, you have a brain bigger than most, yet you are not smart enough to figure out that I have like you since we were 13."

"What?" Stephanie looked more confused than she had ever in her life.

Colin ran his fingers through his hair again. "I never thought in my wildest dreams that you would want me like that. I thought you were just extra kind to me because we were such good friends." He began to close the distance between them. "Had I ever known that you would have given me a chance I would have jumped on that opportunity."

"Why didn't you just give it a shot?"

"I didn't think you'd ever want to be with me. During our senior year you and Jessica told Finn and me that if a guy and girl were friends they could never go out, because if they did then their friendship would be ruined. I didn't want to ruin our friendship and I didn't think you'd go out with me because of the same fear."

"I didn't believe that. Jessica had a crush on you at the time and I was trying to deter her from trying to go out with you. I was a bit selfish. It's not like it worked anyways, you two ended up dating for 6 months."

"Only because she asked me to the Sadie Hawkins dance. And I didn't know it was going to bug you since you asked Michael Horton, who you went on to date for a _year_."

Finn had enough of this back and forth and decided it was time to intervene. "Hey you two, that's enough." He stood from his seat and looked towards Stephanie and then Colin, "You both obviously have some strong feelings for each other. So how about instead of bickering like an old married couple, you two start off by dating."

"He's sleeping with _Rose_. I'm not about to be the other woman."

Colin looked at Stephanie; his expression was a mix of amused and confused at the same time. "I'm what?"

"I saw you in Rosemary's bed, that's why I am here. I needed to talk to Finn."

Colin shook his head and smiled. "Yes, I was _in_ Rose's bed, but did you see Rose in it with me?"

"I…uh…I don't know. I guess I didn't."

"No, she was at her new boyfriend's place while I crashed in her room. You see, your dorm is close to my job, and Rose and I have a deal where she allows me to use her room whenever she's not there."

Stephanie seemed at a loss for words.

Colin moved until he was standing right in front of her. He cupped her cheek; his face was only inches away from hers. "I hope I haven't spoiled my chance to be with you, because that would really fucking suck."

With only a moment of hesitation, Stephanie pressed her lips to Colin's.

Finn took this as the best moment to slip out of the room and head back to his own girlfriend, who happened to still be in his bed, completely naked. Before he closed his door he glanced back at his two best friends. They were still holding on to each other, smiles of happiness gracing both of their faces.


	19. Another First Date

**AN: I did it! I finally did it! I have been trying so hard to get this chapter finished. I had little time to writ with my last class. I am sorry for making y'all wait. Please forgive me for making y'all wait so long. I hope to get back to posting on a more regular basis.**

 **This chapter has neither Finn nor Rory in it. This one is revolving around the date mention back in chapter 17, between Derrick and Paris. We get to learn a little more about these two.**

 **As always please let me know what you think.**

* * *

 **Saturday February 4** **th**

Derrick was nervous. He'd never been good at these types of things. Of course he had been on first dates before, but never like this. This was the first date he would be going on as an adult, and with a woman he had only know for the last few months.

All his previous girlfriends had at least been his friend for a while before they went on their first date. Besides not having been friends long, Paris was different from the girls he had gone out with in the past. She was very blunt and honest. In fact one of the first things she ever told him was that she was not afraid to call people of on their BS.

He knew it was weird, but that that was somehow refreshing. He guessed after finding out that his almost wife had pretty much lied about who she was, he was feeling the need to have an openly honest person in his life.

He didn't know what would come of this date, but what he _did_ know was that he had an attraction to Paris. She was very smart and not hard on the eyes at all. When he caught her smiling, when she wasn't paying attention, she looked so relaxed and radiantly beautiful.

He knocked on her dorm room door and a second later it flew open. "Good you're on time," she said hastily as she grabbed her coat off the rack then closed and locked the door behind her. "So, where are we going?"

It took Derrick a couple of seconds to gather his thoughts before he answered. "We have a reservation at Gianni's down the street. Would you like to drive or walk?"

"I think walking will be fine. I wore my flats for comfort." She motioned to the shoes in question.

They took off down the hall and out of the building heading in the direction of the restaurant. "Interesting restaurant choice," Paris said as they made their way across the lawn. "Did Rory tell you to pick Italian?"

Derrick shrugged, "Why take a chance on guessing when I can get inside information? I figure it's better to ask and take you somewhere that you would for sure enjoy rather than gamble at wondering what you _may_ like."

Paris nodded, "Logical thinking. I like that."

The pair made conversation about the still cold weather to the scenery on Yale grounds for the 10 minutes it took them to get to Gianni's. Once inside, Derrick gave his name and the young hostess sat them quickly.

"Hmm, you _really_ did your homework. A table against a wall since I don't like people sitting behind me, far enough away from the other tables to not be intruded by others, but not so far that we seem secluded. Nice work." She smiled the smile Derrick loved to see.

The waiter, Antonio according to his nametag, approached there table. "Ah Miss Gellar, how are you this evening, and who is this with you?"

"I'm well Tony. This is my date for the evening Derrick Troust. Derrick this is Tony, he and his wife have known my former nanny for at least 20 years. How is Janelle?"

"She is doing wonderfully. She's due in a month."

"That's wonderful. Have you picked a name yet?"

"Not yet. Janelle believes his name will come to her once he is in her arms. I am in no position to argue with her."

"You are a wise man, Tony."

He smiled and nodded. "So will it be the usual for you tonight?"

"For me, yes, but I think Derrick may need a couple of minutes."

Derrick cut in, "Oh no, I know what I want. I'll have the eggplant parmesan, and to drink I think I'll stick with water." The waiter left with a smile and Derrick turned his attention back to Paris. "I have to say. It is nice to have a date who knows what they want. Too many times have I been stuck with someone who just orders the same thing as me or asks what they should order."

Paris scoffed, "There are too many bimbos out there waiting for the man to take the lead. I believe in setting my own path. I don't need a man to dictate what I'm going to order, and I especially don't need a man for the sake of having a man."

Derrick laughed, "Well, you are a breath of fresh air."

"Derrick, may I be frank about something?"

"I'd expect nothing less."

"Am I just a rebound? I mean, not that I mind, there will always be a rebound, but I don't want you to act like I'm not when I really am."

"Well, define rebound. If you are asking me if you are the first girl I've gone on a date with since my engagement fell through, then yes, you are a rebound. If you are asking if I'm only going out with you to get past my ex, then no, you are not."

"How come you're able to move on so fast? Weren't you two in love?"

Before Derrick could get his answer out, the waiter arrived at their table and dropped of their drinks.

Derrick took a welcomed sip of his water before continuing. "I took the time I needed to get over Bella. It was actually easy when I found out she destroyed half of my belongings. I did love Bella, well, at least I thought I did, but when I found out that she wasn't portraying herself truthfully, my feelings for her took an instant nosedive. I was in love with the false image of her and when I saw the truth, after the initial hurt left, I was just over her. If there is one thing I value more than anything else in relationships it is honesty." He shook his head," I'd never had imagine she could have been so horrid. You should have seen the way Bella and Cami tore into Finn."

"What if he deserved it? I mean, you don't have the _whol_ e story _._ "

"Trust me Paris, no one deserved what they were saying. They were vicious." He took another sip of water. "Though I don't think it would have mattered if she showed her true colors from the start. I won't stand for anyone who is cruel to others."

Paris locked her eyes on him. "I'm sensing that you have some experience with cruelness in your past? Father or mother?"

Derrick wasn't surprised by her bluntness, but he still wasn't prepared for her question. "Father," he said as he looked back at her. Even though her words were hard, her face was soft. "He wasn't the kindest of men."

"I'm sorry. I've been told that I am too crass when it comes to conversational matters."

He raised his hand to stop her. "It's okay Paris, I'd rather us get everything out on the table." He ran his fingers through his hair. "My Father was a terrible man who took joy in the emotional turmoil of others. He didn't care who is victim was, as long as they were suffering at his hand."

When he saw the shock on Paris' face he decided to clarify a bit.

"While my father never hit me or my sisters, he did emotionally and mentally abuse us. He wasn't, however, afraid to raise a hand to my mother. I wanted to do something to defend her, but I was too young, and I was afraid that if I upset set him he would not only turn his anger on me, but my sisters too. It took a bit of doing, but my mother was finally able to get us out from under him, and he was eventually put behind bars."

"Is he still there?" Paris asked hesitation in her voice.

"No. He died about 5 years ago." He paused for a moment before continuing. "I won't say that I was happy about it, but I wasn't sad either. I think the best way to describe what I felt was relief. My sisters and Mother could finally live without looking over their shoulders."

She nodded. "I'm actually no stranger to emotional trauma caused by parents. Of course, it was not to any degree of what you just described."

"What do you mean?"

She let out a long sigh, "I can count on two hands the number of times I have seen my parents since I started my freshman year at Chilton." She paused and glanced around the room.

The expression on her face told Derrick that she was uncomfortable. "You don't have to continue."

Paris shook her head. "No, you were honest with me. I think I owe you the same." She adjusted herself so she was sitting up a little straighter. "I don't let people know how much it bothers me, my parents being absent from my life, but it does. They weren't at my graduations from kindergarten, intermediate school, or Chilton. I'd bet a large amount of money that they won't be here when I graduate from Yale. I sometimes wonder if they'll be there the day I get married, or when I have children?"

Derrick didn't know what to say. Yeah, his father was an ass who liked to beat on his mom, but he still had the full support of his mother. She had saved them from that situation and gotten them to a better place.

She had always been there for every big, or small, event in his life. She had insisted she be there for when he received his certificate of perfect attendance in elementary school.

To both their relief, the food arrived and effectively ended the depressive conversation.

They filled the rest of their meal with more lighthearted conversation. Derrick discussed his culinary dream and Paris explain the complicated paradox that was her wanting to be a doctor, but how she hated being around sick people.

They finished off their meal by sharing a slice of tiramisu. Derrick paid, and even left a larger than normal tip for the soon to be father Antonio.

They night was ending on a high note. Derrick couldn't help but smiling the entire walk back to Paris' dorm.

Once they were outside her door they turned to face each other. Just as Derrick was contemplating whether or not to go in for a kiss, Paris started talking.

"So are you going to kiss me or not? I mean you don't have to kiss me. That is such a cliché way to end a date, especially a first date. But if you wanted to kiss me you could. I would,"

Derrick had made his decision. He cut off her rant by pressing his lips to hers. After a moment he felt her body relax as it formed to his. He lifts his hand up and cups her cheek. He feels her responding to his kiss, the movement of his lips, even allowing his tongue entrance to her mouth.

They broke apart only when they heard a door slam close down the hall.

"So," Paris finally said after a stretch of silence.

Derrick smiled. "So, I'll call you tomorrow. We can plan our next date."

A huge smile, the biggest he had yet to see, spread across her face. "I'd like that."

He leaned in and kissed her once more before turning and leaving the building.


	20. Unanswered Calls

**AN: I finally got a chance to really write! I got this chapter, most of the next chapter for A Darkened Room, and a chapter for another fandom done. I feel so accomplished. I do apologize for make you PDLD fans waiting. My writers block was worse than I could ever imagine. BUT I think I have gotting some creativeness back and I hope to be back to updating on a more regular basis.  
Please forgive any grammatical errors; my beta reader has been under the weather and I didn't want to bug her today.**

 **As always, please leave a review letting me know what you think of this chapter.**

* * *

 **March 11** **th** **2005 Spring Break**

Finally! Finn had been waiting all semester for Spring Break. He had been feeling extremely stressed with school and his family. He had taken his last midterm yesterday, and was now free for the next 10 days to do whatever he please.

His mother had been trying to convince him to go back to the manor for the break, but there was no way in hell that that was going to happen. No, he was going to sit his happy ass in his apartment and stay away from the drama that was is relatives.

He was the only one in the apartment today. Derrick was at work and Colin had a make-up exam at noon. He and Stephanie had both caught the flu when they thought it would be fun to sleep out under the stars. They had missed multiple classes while sick and had been given extensions in certain classes.

This left Finn all alone in the apartment, and he decided he would take advantage of this situation. Taking up residence in the living room, where Colin and Derrick usually laid claim for a majority of the day to play video games, he was currently sprawled out on the couch wearing nothing but his boxers, with and his phone pressed to his ear.

' _You've reached Rory Gilmore. I'm either in class, with my mom, with my boyfriend, sleeping, or just ignoring my phone. Anyways, please leave me a message and I'll call you back when I feel like it.'_ Finn listened to the voicemail message for what seemed like the 5th time for the past two days.

He had been calling Rory since yesterday trying to finalize Spring Break plans with her. They hadn't gotten to talk the past week due to midterms. He had definitely been feeling the withdraw effects of having not heard her actual voice in so many days.

"Hey, luv, just calling to make sure you survived all your exams. Give me a call when you get the chance." He hung up his phone and shook off the strange feeling that was settling in his chest.

They hadn't gone more than a couple of days without talking since they started dating. It had actually been nearly a week since Finn had heard from Rory, and now he was unable to reach her on the phone.

He shook his head. _No._ He was not about to become _that_ guy. The obsessive, clingy, overbearing boyfriend that had to know where his girlfriend was and what she was doing at all times. She didn't need to check in with him.

He decided to go for a walk. After throwing some clothes on, he slipped his phone, wallet, and keys into his pockets and left his apartment.

It was finally getting warmer outside. There was still a _little_ winter chill left in the air, but it was only noticeable when the clouds blocked the sun.

After walking around aimlessly for 20 minutes, Finn decided to grab a bite of lunch. He found a little café off campus and was now enjoying a sandwich and some coffee. He was halfway through his food when he spotted Paris across the street.

"Hey Paris!" He shouted, succeeding in gaining her attention.

She locked eyes with him, and when he waved her over she crossed the street and sat at his table. "What do you want, Finn?" Her question was so harsh it had taken him by surprise.

She had actually gotten warmer with him and talked to him as she talked to Rory. But now it was obvious that she was unhappy with him.

He decided to ignore her tone. "Have you heard from Rory? Is she done with her exams yet?"

She let of an impatient huff, "How would I know? I haven't seen her since Sunday."

"Sunday?" Finn asked, feeling a wave of unease hit him.

"Yes. She came home Sunday night, packed a bag, and left. I'd assume she's at her mom's, but I don't like to assume things."

"Why would she go back to her mom's?"

She shrugged, "I thought maybe you two had broken up. You know, since she was crying and all."

Finn stood suddenly from his table. "She was crying? She packed a bag and left campus while she was crying?"

"Yes." She eyed him curiously. "So, you didn't break up?"

"No." He dug in his pocket for his wallet, took some cash out, and dropped enough for the food and a tip on the table. "I got to go. Thanks for the information."

* * *

Finn tried calling Rory a few more times, but there was no answer each time. He was starting to worry. With the new information from Paris, Finn worried that something happened with Rory. Why would she leave a day before midterms start? Why was she ignoring all his calls? Why was she crying? Was she hurt? Did she want to end things?

He needed answers to his questions.

He pocketed his keys and his phone and left the apartment once again.

Twenty minutes, and a few broken speeding, laws later, Finn was knocking on the door to Rory's childhood home. He had remembered where it was when she had shown them the town back on New Year's Eve.

After a short moment the door swung open reviling Lorelai. She looked like she had just gotten home from work.

"Finn." She said calmly. She didn't seem surprised to see him or her porch.

"Hello, Lorelai." He could hear how nervous his voice sounded. "Is…is she here?"

She looked behind her and then back at him. "Yes, she is here," She said in a hushed tone. She stepped out of the house and shut the door behind her. "Look Finn, I like you. You are probably the best guy that my daughter has ever dated. But Rory is going through something right now, and I have to respect her wishes and keep you away from her."

"But why? What is going on?" He knew he sound desperate, but he don't care. From what Paris told him and the way Lorelai was acting now, he was seriously worried that something major was wrong.

Lorelai motion for him to follow her, and they walked around to the other side of the house. "Look, I can't say anything. I can't say if it is bad or not or anything that will give you an idea of what is going on. All I _can_ say is that she _will_ eventually talk to you. You just have to remain patient."

"Lorelai, I cannot just go home without talking to her. I need to know what is going on with my girlfriend."

"I know, but as her mother I cannot go against her wishes and let you in." She dropped her voice even more. "I can, however, tell you _not_ to come by tomorrow, because _I will not_ be here to keep you out. And I'd prefer you _not_ to look under the frog that we keep in our garden. That is personal stuff."

He nodded, understanding her message to him.

She turned and went back into the house.

* * *

Finn woke up early Saturday morning and made the trip back to Stars Hollow. He parked in town and walked to Rory's house.

He saw that Lorelai was true to her word and was not at the house.

With a quick survey of the flowerbeds, he located the hide-a-key frog near the front steps.

It felt like his heart was going to burst out of his chest as he opened the door. He had never actually been _in_ Rory's home. He had seen it from the outside, and had heard several stories, but he hadn't been in it.

He tried to remember the stories that Rory had told him. She had told him that her bedroom on actually supposed to be on office space located off of the kitchen. So where is the kitchen?

He quietly shut the door behind him and walked forward out of the small entry room. He looked to his right and saw the kitchen. As he moved closer, he saw the open door that led to a bedroom; her bedroom.

She was asleep, wrapped in a multitude of blankets, and surrounded by books and junk food. Most of it looked untouched.

He stood in the doorway as he examined her room. It was small, but cozy. She had pictures of friends and family around her dresser mirror, a corkboard absolutely smothered in Yale memorabilia, and a bookshelf that looked like it could collapse at any moment by the number of books she had stacked on it. According to her, she had more books tucked into dresser drawers and under her bed.

His gaze fell back on her sleeping form. He wanted so bad to scoop her up and hold her tight. Something had her upset and he wanted to make it better. He wanted her to know that he wasn't going anywhere. He was there for her.

He spotted the chair at the end of her bed and decided that he would wait for her to wake up instead of waking her up himself.

After grabbing one of the many books from her shelf, he made himself comfortable in the overstuffed armchair. He opened the book, which turned out to be Alice in Wonderland, and began to read. An unknown amount of time passed by, when he began to doze off.

He had been in and out of sleep when something startled him awake. He rubbed his eyes with the backs of his hands, and when he looked up he saw that Rory was awake.

She didn't look happy or mad that he what there, but rather surprised. "Finn, what are you doing here?"

* * *

 **Sorry for the cliff-hanger, but don't worry, I already have the next chapter in the works.**


	21. A Break

**AN: I wish I had a better excuse to why I am so late with this post. I switched jobs and have lost all motivation when it comes to writing. But I am going to be trying extra hard to make time for my readings. I can't make promises, but maybe this posting will motivate me. Please let me know what you think of this chapter and I hope to post again soon.**

March 12th, 2005 (Saturday)

Finn stood from the chair and made his way to the side of her bed, kneeling once there.

"What do you mean 'what am I doing here'? I came to see you. You haven't been answering my phone calls and Paris said you left the dorm Sunday crying. She thought we broke up. I wanted to make sure you were okay."

She scrambled off the bed. "Finn, you shouldn't be here. You should go. Go back to Yale. There is nothing…nothing to worry about." Her voice was shaking.

"Rory, what's wrong?"

She didn't say anything.

He stood and tried to approach her, but when he got closer to her she backed away from him. "Luv, if I did something wrong you have to tell me. If I upset you in some way,"

"It's nothing," She cut him off. She wrapped her arms around herself as if to create more of a barrier between the two of them. "I just…I think I just need some space."

"Space?" He asked. "Space as in you just want me to go back home and then you will call me in a day or two, or space as in you want to break up?"

She was quiet for a long moment, her eyes never meeting his.

"I think we should break up," she finally said; her voice so quiet Finn thought that he had misheard her.

"Break up?"

She nodded.

Finn felt like his heart had just dropped to his stomach. He didn't know what to say; he couldn't even form the word 'why'.

Thought after thought ran through his head. _Why did she want to break up? What did he do wrong? Was there someone else? Should he try to convince her to stay with him?_ He, however, never spoke a word. It was as if he vice abandoned him.

He studied her face; the dark circles under her eyes told him that while she had been sleeping when he had arrived, it had most certainly not been restful sleep. He wondered if she had been battling with this decision for a while.

She continued to avoid his gaze.

As the seconds that felt like hours passed, and Rory was no closer to talking to him, Finn decided it was time for him to find his voice.

"Why, Rory?" That was all he could manage to get out as he stood up straight.

She continued to look at the ground and refused to answer.

"Rory, please tell me _why_." His voice began to take on a bit of harsh quality.

She looked up at him with a shocked expression. He had never talked to her that way.

"I just think it is time to end it." Her voice was cold and measured. "It was fun while it lasted, but we both knew that this was never going to last past a fling."

Finn felt the floor drop out beneath him. Since when did his beautiful Rory start to think so callously of their relationship?

"That's all this was to you, a fling?" He asked unbelieving.

"What else would it be. Did you think we'd be together all through college, graduate, get married and have kids?" Her arms dropped to her sides, her hands were balled into tight fists. "I've thought like that before and I was sorely mistaken. I was sure you would have been a bit smarter, especially given your track record with women."

Finn refused to believe that these were her true feelings. "No, luv, this isn't you. Something's wrong so you're pushing me away. Have you been letting Logan in your head?"

"Since when have I ever let someone affect my thoughts?"

"Then why are you acting completely different? Why are you saying thing I know you would never mean? This has to be some sort of act."

"Maybe I was acting before? Maybe this is who I truly am, did you ever think about that? We haven't been together that long, Finn, you don't know me as well as you think you do."

Finn wanted to tell her how wrong she was. He knew her. He knew that she was kind and caring, but the anger he was feeling right now was too much for him to think clearly. Hearing these harsh words from the woman he loved was too much for him to handle in general.

"You need to leave, Finn," Rory's voice cut through the thick silence that had built up once again. "I don't want you here."

It now felt like she was purposely trying to hurt him.

He wanted to fight for her. He wanted to yell at her. He wanted to hurt her back.

Before he knew it, his hand sunk through the drywall beside him. "Fuck you, Rory!" he shouted at the top of his lungs "Fuck you and the bitch you're trying to be. You can burn in hell for all I care." More words he didn't mean exited his mouth, but he was already consciously checked out.

He heard her shouting at him as he made his way out of the small house, but none of her words made sense to him. He was too angry, enraged, to listen to anything she had to say at the moment. She shouted at him all the way to the lawn, as he got into his car, he even saw her yelling something at him as he drove off.

How he got home was a mystery to him

Same went for how the knife got into his hands.

He didn't know where all the blood was coming from.

How did it get all over his clothes?

Why was it getting so dark?

Who was yelling?

"Finn! Steph, call 911! Finn! FINN! Oh God, what did you do?"

"Rory…"

Everything went black.


	22. Six Inches Worth

**AN: Hey everyone! Here is an extra long chapter to make up for my absence, along with that horrible cliffhanger. I do apologize for that.**

 **To those who fear me abandoning this story, don't worry, I wouldn't do such a thing. It's become increasingly harder for me to write, so I have to fit it in when I can. Fear not though, I will never leave this story unfinished.**

 **I am sorry if there are any grammar mistakes, my Beta has been a little busy herself, and I could wait to post.**

 **So, without further ado, please read and let me know what you think.**

* * *

 **March 12** **,** **2005**

"Miss, you need to calm down."

"Don't tell me to calm down! I just found one of my best friends bleeding out on the floor of his apartment."

"We are doing everything we can to help him."

 **March 13, 2005 Morning**

"His vitals are stabilizing. We can see that his brain activity has been picking up. It shouldn't be too long now before he is awake."

 **March 14, 2005 Evening**

"No answer."

"What about his mom?"

"She was in Australia when I spoke to her. She said she would get on the first flight out, but she won't be here until tomorrow at the soonest."

"Did you call Rory?"

"Yes."

"What did she say?"

 **March 14, 2005 Morning**

All Finn could hear were the beeping of monitors.

He slowly opened his eyes. It took a while before the room around him came into focus, but once it did he recognized it as a hospital room.

It was very dim in the room. The lights were turned off and the curtains were pulled shut blocking out all sunlight save for a small sliver where each side met.

His head felt foggy and his whole body hurt.

He didn't know how he got here.

He tried to sit up, but found it extremely difficult. "Ow, fuck!" He exclaimed when he felt shooting pains go up both his arms.

"Finn?" He heard a whisper from across the room. "Oh, thank God you're awake."

A blinding light was switched on, causing Finn to shut his eyes tight.

When he opened them again he saw Stephanie standing next to his bed, worry lines etched in to her face.

She pushed a button on a remote that was attached to the bed. "We need a nurse to room 408. Finn Morgan is awake."

Moments later a crew of a doctor and two nurses entered the room.

For the next several minutes, Finn found himself being poked, prodded, nudged, and stared at by everyone in the room.

The doctor, a beautiful blonde woman, looking to be in her mid-40s, asked Finn a series of questions. "Can you feel your extremities? Do you feel lightheaded at all? Can you sit up? Follow my light."

After the questions, and the checking his vitals, the doctor and nurses left with the promise of being back shortly, but assured Finn and his friends that everything seemed okay for the moment.

As the door closed behind the last nurse Finn knew that the questions were about to start up.

Stephanie did not disappoint him.

"What the hell were you thinking Finn Morgan!" Stephanie shouted as soon as he heard the click of the door. "Do you know how worried Colin and I have been?"

"Babe, don't you think you should," Colin tried to interject, but was quickly cut off.

"No," Steph said sternly, "I don't think I _should_ anything. Finn had me worried for practically two days. I think we deserve an explanation."

Finn knew she was right. They deserved an explanation. But Finn was not about to give them one. What was he supposed to tell them? He didn't even fully understand the whole situation himself.

"Steph don't worry, I'm okay now."

"Okay? How are you okay? You try to kill yourself. You were nearly successful. Had Colin and I not come home early because of a canceled movie you would have been dead."

Stephanie's words sunk into Finn's mind. He would've been dead. He knew that the bandages on his arms were from where he cut himself, and by the way they felt, he knew that they were not shallow cuts.

Colin sat in the chair that was right by his bed while Stephanie paced back and forth by the window. "Dude, what happened? Like a week ago you were just fine, the happiest I've ever seen you. Does this have to do with Rory?"

"I don't want to talk about Rory."

Stephanie was relentless. "Well if this has something to do with Rory, then you're going to have to talk about it. She's on her way now."

Finn went from 0 to 60 in a heartbeat. "Why would you call Rory?" He shouted that the two of them.

"Dude, don't get mad at us. We didn't know what was going on or why you're doing what you are doing. How are we supposed to know that it has something to do with Rory?"

"You mind your own damn business that's how. You didn't have to call her."

Finn knew he had taken it one step too far. The look on Stephanie space could have killed him if he stared at it too long. But at the moment he couldn't help what he said, he didn't want to see Rory.

"How dare you Finn. How dare you talk to us in such a way as if we have no right to care about you." She looked towards Colin, "call me when he come to his senses and stopped me in an ass hole."

With that she gathered her things and left the room. She probably would've slammed the door if they weren't rigged to shut slowly.

He looked back at Colin and started to apologize, but Colin stopped him.

"No need dude. She knows that if you were emotional enough to try something like kill yourself, then you're not really going to be the calmest of people." He grabbed his coat and started for the door. As he opened it, he turned back to look at Finn, "Look dude, I am glad you didn't die, and I hope that whatever is happening with you and Rory is solved soon. I really can't bear the thought of losing one of my best friends."

He didn't wait for Finn to reply before leaving the room. Before leaving Finn alone. With nothing but his thoughts. With nothing but the overwhelming depressing that was building in his chest.

He wasn't alone long though. The doctor returned shortly after Colin and Stephanie left. He was accompanied by a psychologist, or psychiatrist. Whichever the one was that would determine if this was a one-time thing, or if Finn was looney and needed to be put in a special facility for a month-long 'rest'.

Both doctors asked several questions, surely trying to get an idea of whether or not Finn was mentally stable.

Neither told him what their findings were as they both left the room mumbling random medical jargon to each other without so much as a 'goodbye' to Finn.

He found himself, once again, alone. But also, once again, it didn't last long.

A nurse entered the room with a cart of bandages, gauze, and other first aide-like stuff.

"Hello Mr. Morgan. My name is Regina, I am going to change your bandages and clean your stitches."

Finn wasn't aware he had had stiches. But, why wouldn't he? He knew the cuts had been deep. The only way they would have been able to stop the bleeding would have been to stich him up.

Regina Started with his left arm first. She Carefully removed the tape, and when she was done, she pulled the bandage away, and then the gauze that was underneath it.

Finn was horrified to see the long row of stitches in his arm. At least 6 inches worth.

Regina carefully dabbed the area around them with dry gauze, and this proceeded to cover it back up with a new bandage and tape.

She moved to the other side of the bed and started the same routine on his right arm. This time, as the bandage and gauze was removed, Finn heard a loud gasp from the doorway.

He turned his head to find Rory standing just inside the room, both hand covering her mouth, and what looked like tears threatening to spill from her eyes.

Regina must have seen the uncomfortableness in Rory's stance, because she had told her to stand in the hall until the bandages had been reapplied. She would let her know when it was okay to go back into the room.

Ten minutes later, Regina left the room and Rory sheepishly reentered it. She was carefully training her eyes to look anywhere but at Finn.

He knew she was trying to avoid the large bandages on his arms. She knew that she had some part in him being where he was.

He knew it was wrong of him, but he blamed her for his current situation.

True, he was the one who held the blade, and he was the one who made the choice, but she was the one who didn't have the balls to fucking end their relationship right. Why didn't she tell him from the beginning that this way all just a casual, non-serious thing? Why? Why did she just up and disappear instead of telling him that she was ready to be done? Why? Why couldn't she act like a decent fucking person, instead of ripping his goddamn heart out of his fucking chest?

Despite all of everything, though, some part of her must still care for him. At least enough to come to the hospital to check on him. That meant something, right?

The tension in the room was thick. Neither spoke for a very long time.

Eventually, Finn let out a sigh. He figured that one of them need to break the silence. "What are you doing here?"

"What do you mean by that?" She asked with an accusatory tone.

"I _mean_ , you kicked me out of your house and told me you wanted to break up. You practically told me our whole relationship was nothing more than a joke. After all that, why did you come here?"

She opened her moth to say something, but quickly shut it again. After a minute or two had passed she started to speak. "Steph called me. I was worried about you. I still care for you."

"It's a little late for that. You should have been a little more caring sooner."

She winced at his words.

He knew he was hurting her, but, he didn't care.

"I have no excuse for my actions the other day. No good ones, at least," she amended. "I was going through some things, and all the emotions that were whirling in my head just sort of spilled out into our conversation."

None of that made sense to Finn. What emotions? What was she going through? After thinking them to himself, he verbalized the questions to Rory.

She shook her head, "It's nothing you need to concern yourself with right now."

"The hell I don't," Finn half-shouted at her, "If these _emotions_ and _thoughts_ cause you to say the things you said, then I think they have to be very concerned."

Rory started to pace the room nervously.

She kept tucking her hair behind her ears, and fiddled with the buttons on her shirt.

"I…I'm not sure if I can…If saying it will make anything better."

He words confused him again. He chose to remain silent, giving her the time she needed to work out the words she needed to say.

"If I had known…if I…I would never had said the things I said." She stopped in front of his bed. "I was just trying to push you away a little. I just needed space. I didn't know what to do. Saying, I thought we needed to break up, was just the only thing that came to my mind at the time. My mind has been so clouded. I…I had to figure out what to do, how to talk to you about what was going on. I was going to talk to you, but you came by to soon. I wasn't ready. I wasn't prepared."

Her rambling continued, but Finn remained silent. He knew she would get to her point. She had a knack for talking in circles until she got to her point. It was best to let her get herself there rather than rush her.

"I didn't want to disappoint, you, or my mom, or my grandparents. I was scared. I was scared and I said awful, horrible things to push you away. I didn't want you to find out yet. I didn't want you to find out like this."

She stopped talking.

That was his cue. "Find out what?"

She finally looked up from the floor and met his eyes for the first time since she got there.

He could see that she was fighting the urge to cry. Her brilliant blue eyes shone bright with unshed tears.

"I'm pregnant."


End file.
